Disease relevance of xerD

• Highly related xerD genes with similar unusual amino acid replacements were found in S. mitis, S. mutans and S. pyogenes but not in other Gram-positive bacteria, although the genetic environment was very similar in many species [1].
• The xerD and xerC genes were present in a sample of 20 S. pneumoniae strains whereas the other xer genes appear to be absent in some of the strains and are more closely related to integrases of phage and transposon origin [1].
• Cloning and characterisation of the Proteus mirabilis xerD gene [2].
• This gene encodes a tyrosine recombinase which is highly similar to the E. coli XerD recombinase, is capable of complementing an E. coli xerD mutant, and displays sequence-specific DNA binding activity [2].

High impact information on xerD

• However, protein sequence comparisons with a gene upstream of recJ, denoted xprB, revealed significant homology with several site-specific recombination proteins [3].

Analytical, diagnostic and therapeutic context of xerD

• We have now cloned and sequenced the xerD gene of Proteus mirabilis using degenerate and inverse PCR methods [2].

References