A novel type A2 neurotoxin gene cluster inClostridium botulinumstrain Mascarpone

Abstract
The partial nucleotide sequence (∼10kb) of the cluster of genes encoding the botulinum neurotoxin complex in Clostridium botulinum type A strain Mascarpone was determined. The analysis revealed six ORFs (orfs), which were organized as in the type A2 and type A3 botulinum neurotoxin gene clusters of strains Kyoto-F and NCTC 2916, respectively. While the orfs at the proximal and distal ends of the sequence (orfX2 and bont/A genes) shared a high level of similarity with the corresponding sequences of strain Kyoto-F, the segment encompassing the orfX1 and botR/A genes within the sequence exhibited a higher degree of homology to the related region in strain NCTC 2916. The mosaic structure of the Mascarpone neurotoxin gene cluster suggests recombinational exchanges.

This publication has 16 references indexed in Scilit: