Characterization of the genes encoding urease activity of Klebsiella pneumoniae |
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Authors: | Gerald-F. Gerlach Steven Clegg Wade A. Nichols |
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Affiliation: | Department of Microbiology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, U.S.A. |
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Abstract: | Abstract The genes encoding urease activity of Klebsiella pneumoniae were cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli . Transformants containing recombinant plasmids were selected by the antibiotic resistance phenotype and the production of urease in a Urease-test agar. Deletion derivatives of the parental recombinant plasmid were construced, and the relative position of six genes, necessary for urease production, was determined. Using a colorimetric assay it was demonstrated that some of the transformants exhibited ureolytic activity up to six-times greater than that of the original K pneumoniae isolate. Dot-blot DNA hybridization analysis revealed that the urease gene cluster of K. pneumoniae possesses no significant homology with those of Proteus species and Morganella morganii . |
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Keywords: | Recombinant DNA Plasmid Urease Gene cluster |
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