Nucleotide sequence of the structural gene for class I pilin from Neisseria meningitidis: homologies with the pilE locus of Neisseria gonorrhoeae

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Abstract
The nucleotide sequence has been determined for the expressed pilin (pilE) locus of Neisseria meningitidis strain C311 which produces class I pili that areantigenically and structurally similar to those of gonococci. The deduced amino acid sequence of the N. meningitidis pilE translation product contains a 7amino acid N‐terminal pre‐pilin leader sequence which is identical to that found in gonococcal pilin and which is characteristic of N‐methylphenylalanine pili in general. The succeeding N‐terminal 53 amino acids are identical to those found in the equivalent position in antigenically variant gonococcal pilins and confirm direct peptide sequencing of the amino‐terminus of atleast one type of meningococcal pilin. Other regions that are conserved in variant pilin potypeptides from Neisseria gonorrhoeae are conserved at the aminoacid level in the class I meningococcal pilin but the coding DNA contains numerous base substitutions when compared with the equivalent gonococcal pH sequence. Sequences extending downstream for about 140bp on the 3′ side of the coding region for both pilin genes are only about 85% homologous.