Molecular and genetic characterization of the capsule biosynthesis locus of Streptococcus pneumoniae type 23F

The authors have previously reported the nucleotide sequence of the 5' and 3' portions of the Streptococcus pneumoniae type 23F capsular polysaccharide biosynthesis locus (cps23f) (from dexB to cps23fB and from cps23fl to aliA). These regions of cps23f were very similar to the sequence reported for cps19f, the capsule locus of S. pneumoniae type 19F. However, Southern hybridization analysis indicated that no other genes closely related to cps19f are present in the cps23f locus. In this study long-range PCR was used to amplify and clone the section of the S. pneumoniae type 23F capsule locus between cps23fB and cps23fl. This region is 13 kb in size and contains 12 new ORFs, designated cps23fC-E, I,J and T-Z. Functions are proposed for all of the protein products, including functional homologues of Cps19fC-E, Cps19fl and Cps19fJ. A biosynthetic pathway for type 23F capsular polysaccharide is also proposed.