P.70 pertactin, an outer‐membrane protein from Bordetella parapertussis: cloning, nucleotide sequence and surface expression in Escherichia coli

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Abstract
The gene prn encoding the outer-membrane protein P.70 (pertactin) from Bordetella parapertussis has been cloned in Escherichia coli and its DNA sequence determined. Analysis of the DNA sequence reveals that the gene has an open reading frame comprising 922 amino acids capable of encoding a protein with a molecular weight of 95,177 (P.95). In vivo processing of this precursor yields a protein with an estimated Mr of 70 kDa (P.70) which is located on the surface of B. parapertussis. Homology between the prn gene from B. parapertussis and that from Bordetella pertussis is 91.3%. The homology is 93% when the protein sequence of P.95 is aligned with that of P.93 from B. pertussis. The major differences between the P.70 pertactin from B. parapertussis and the P.69 pertactin from B. pertussis occur in the number of reiterated units within the repeat motifs found in both proteins; the sequence Gly-Gly-Xaa-Xaa-Pro is repeated four times in the P.70 pertactin, and five times in the P.69 pertactin, while the sequence Pro-Gln-Pro occurs nine times in P.70 pertactin and five times in P.69 pertactin. Cloning of the gene for P.95 in an E. coli expression vector results in the synthesis of a protein that mimics native gene expression in B. parapertussis, i.e. the P.95 protein is synthesized and subsequently processed to yield the P.70 form of the protein on the surface of the cell.