Neisseria gonorrhoeae contains multiple copies of a gene that may encode a site-specific recombinase and is associated with DNA rearrangements

A 960-bp ORF potentially encoding a site-specific recombinase has been cloned from Neisseria gonorrhoeae MS11-A. This ORF was designated piv(Ng) on the basis of similarity of the deduced amino acid sequence to the Piv proteins of Moraxella spp. that are site-specific invertases. Southern hybridization and sequence analysis revealed that there were multiple copies of piv(Ng) sequence within the genomes of N. gonorrhoeae strains tested, but not in several other neisserial species. Southern hybridization and sequence analysis further suggested that piv(Ng) sequences may be associated with genomic rearrangements. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.