Cloning and nucleotide sequences of the topoisomerase IV parC and parE genes of Mycoplasma hominis

The topoisomerase IV parC and parE genes from the wall-less organism Mycoplasma hominis PG21 were cloned and sequenced. The coupled genes are located far from the DNA gyrase genes gyrA and gyrB. They encode proteins of 639 and 866 amino acids, respectively. As expected, the encoded ParE and ParC proteins exhibit higher homologies with the topoisomerase IV subunits of the gram-positive bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae than with their Escherichia coli counterparts. The conserved regions include the Tyr residue of the active site and the region involved in quinolone resistance (quinolone resistance-determining region [QRDR]) in ParC and the ATP-binding site and the QRDR in ParE.