THE GENE CODING FOR 3-DEOXY-MANNO-OCTULOSONIC ACID TRANSFERASE AND THE RFAQ GENE ARE TRANSCRIBED FROM DIVERGENTLY ARRANGED PROMOTERS IN ESCHERICHIA-COLI

The gene kdtA in Escherichia coli codes for 3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonic acid transferase, the enzyme responsible for attachment of the two 3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonic acid residues that constitute the link between lipid A and the core oligosaccharide of the lipopolysaccharide. Cloning and subsequent sequencing of the region upstream of kdtA revealed an open reading frame identified as the first gene (rfaQ) in an rfa gene cluster. The kdtA and rfaQ transcripts were identified, and the 5' ends of the transcripts were mapped by primer extension. Two main, divergently arranged promoters were found. These promoters generated transcripts with 5' ends separated by 289 bases. That the two divergent transcripts from the identified promoters represent the kdtA and rfaQ transcripts was confirmed by fusing different parts of the intergenic region between the promoterless lacZ and phoA genes in promoter-screening plasmid pCB267.