IDENTIFICATION OF THE XORII METHYLTRANSFERASE GENE AND A VSR HOMOLOG FROM XANTHOMONAS-ORYZAE PV ORYZAE

The gene encoding the XorII methyltransferase (M.XorII) was cloned from Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae and characterized in Escherichia coli. The M.XorII activity was localized to a 3.1 kb BamHI-BstXI fragment, which contained two open reading frames (ORFs) of 1272 nucleotides (424 amino acids) and 408 nucleotides (136 amino acids). Ten polypeptide domains conserved in other M(5) cytosine methyltransferases (MTases) were identified in the deduced amino acid sequence of the 1272 ORF. E. coli Mrr(+) strains were transformed poorly by plasmids containing the XorII MTase gene, indicating the presence of at least one (M)CG in the recognition sequence for M.XorII (CGATCG). The 408 nucleotide ORF was 36% identical at the amino acid level to sequences of the E. coli dcm-vsr gene, which is required for very short patch repair. X. oryzae pv. oryzae genomic DNA that is resistant to digestion by PvuI and XorII hybridizes with a 7.0 kb fragment containing the XorII MTase gene and vsr homolog, whereas DNA from strains that lack M.XorII activity do not hybridize with the fragment.