Cloning of a gene from Bacillus cereus with homology to the mreB gene from Escherichia coli.

We have cloned and sequenced a gene coding for a putative shape-determining protein (MreB) highly homologous to the mreB gene product of Escherichia coli. The amino acid (aa) identity was 53% and the similarity 72%. The gene is expressed early in the logarithmic phase. The aa sequence comparison showed that the protein, like the E. coli MreB, has structural similarity to actin and heat-shock protein Hsc70 encoded by a new super-gene family.