%0 Journal Article %A Castric, Peter %T pilO, a gene required for glycosylation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa 1244 pilin %D 1995 %J Microbiology, %V 141 %N 5 %P 1247-1254 %@ 1465-2080 %R https://doi.org/10.1099/13500872-141-5-1247 %K Pseudomonas aeruginosa %K type 4 pili %K fimbriae %K pilus assembly %K protein glycosylation %I Microbiology Society, %X SUMMARY Nucleotide sequencing of a region downstream from the Pseudomonas aeruginosa 1244 pilin structural gene, pilA, revealed an ORF potentially able to code for a protein of M r 50862. This ORF, called pilO, was flanked by a tRNAthr gene, which was followed by a transcriptional termination sequence. The tRNAthr gene and the termination sequence were nearly identical to sequences found immediately adjacent to the pilA gene of several P. aeruginosa strains. A 2200 base mRNA strand, which contained both the pilO and pilA transcripts, was produced from this region, while a 650 base transcript containing only pilA was present in a 100-fold excess over the longer transcript. Hyperexpression of the pilA gene in a PilO- strain resulted in normal pilus-specific phage sensitivity and twitching motility. The pilin produced by this strain had a lower apparent M r and a more neutral pI compared to that produced by a strain containing a functional pilO gene. This pilin failed to react with a sugar-specific reagent which recognized pilin produced by the strain containing a functional pilO gene. %U https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/micro/10.1099/13500872-141-5-1247