Disease relevance of recA

• Properties of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus recA and its contribution to intracellular gene conversion [1].
• The A. calcoaceticus recA gene was cloned in Escherichia coli by complementation of a recA mutation in the host strain [1].
• Primers deduced from known recA gene sequences of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus and Neisseria gonorrhoeae allowed the amplification of DNAs from all Acinetobacter genospecies [2].

High impact information on recA

• Recently, it has been described in detail how, in transformable Acinetobacter BD413 and Streptococcus pneumoniae, long stretches of nucleotides lacking homology were integrated into recipient genomes when they were linked on one side to a small piece of DNA with homology to resident DNA serving as a recA-dependent recombination anchor [3].
• The nucleotide sequence of a 1506 bp DNA fragment containing A. calcoaceticus recA was determined [1].
• Selection for Tn5-encoded kanamycin resistance allowed the inactivated recA gene to be recombined by natural transformation into the A. calcoaceticus chromosome [1].
• Gene amplification involved a two-step process in which duplications formed independently of recA [4].
• A constitutively expressed, truncated umuDC operon regulates the recA-dependent DNA damage induction of a gene in Acinetobacter baylyi strain ADP1 [5].

Biological context of recA

• Induction of the recA gene by DNA damage was independent of functional RecA [6].
• Using the lacZ operon fusion technique, the transcriptional control of the Acinetobacter calcoaceticus recA gene was studied [6].
• The presence of the recA promoter region on a multicopy plasmid had the same effect on recA transcription as the presence of DNA-damaging agents [6].
• In this context, recA/RFLP genotypic method should be seen as an ideal preliminary screening method for large numbers of isolates, with the ultimate confirmatory role reserved for DNA hybridization analysis [7].
• The recA gene is indispensable for a maintaining and diversification of the bacterial genetic material [7].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of recA

• Genomic species typing of acinetobacters by polymerase chain reaction amplification of the recA gene [2].

References