Analysis of a 36-kilodalton protein (PapA) associated with the bacteriophage particle of Bartonella henselae

A library of Bartonella henselae DNA was screened with antibody raised to the bacteriophage particle associated with this organism. A clone was isolated that expresses a 36-kD protein (termed PapA for particle-associated protein) when examined by immunoblot analysis using antibody raised to the particle. Southern blot hybridization indicates that the gene is present on the bacterial chromosome and packaged into the 14-kb particle-associated DNA. A papA-specific probe hybridized to multiple bands of B. henselae genomic DNA digested with several different restriction endonucleases. Thus, the gene is present in multiple copies on the genome or in different arrangements within a given population of B. henselae cells. The gene coding for PapA has been sequenced and codes for a 326-amino-acid protein with a deduced molecular weight of 36,161 daltons. The deduced protein shows 33.3% identity over a 108-amino-acid sequence with the P-min gene product of Escherichia coli. P-min is partially located within the invertible P region of the excisable element e14, found on the E. coli chromosome. Taken together, these results suggest that papA is present on a mobile genetic element of the B. henselae genome and is also packaged into the bacteriophage particle.