CLONING AND DNA-SEQUENCE ANALYSIS OF THE SERC-AROA OPERON FROM SALMONELLA-GALLINARUM - EVOLUTIONARY RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN THE PROKARYOTIC AND EUKARYOTIC AROA-ENCODED ENZYMES

The serC-aroA operon of Salmonella gallinarum was isolated from a gene library using a labelled oligonucleotide probe and by complementation of an aroA Escherichia coli strain. The nucleotide sequence of a 2.6 kbp fragment was determined. The predicted amino acid sequence of the aroA gene product was compared to the equivalent sequence from ten other organisms. Computer-generated evolutionary trees clearly divide the eleven sequences into four different groups: Gram-negative bacteria, Gram-positive bacteria, fungi and plants. These trees depict a close evolutionary relationship between the sequences from Gram-negative bacteria and higher plants.