Cloning, genetic analysis, and nucleotide sequence of a determinant coding for a 19-kilodalton peptidoglycan-associated protein (Ppl) of Legionella pneumophila.

A genomic library of Legionella pneumophila, the causative agent of Legionnaires disease in humans, was constructed in Escherichia coli K-12, and the recombinant clones were screened by immuno-colony blots with an antiserum raised against heat-killed L. pneumophila. Twenty-three clones coding for a Legionella-specific protein of 19 kDa were isolated. The 19-kDa protein, which represents an outer membrane protein, was found to be associated with the peptidoglycan layer both in L. pneumophila and in the recombinant E. coli clones. This was shown by electrophoresis and Western immunoblot analysis of bacterial cell membrane fractions with a monospecific polyclonal 19-kDa protein-specific antiserum. The protein was termed peptidoglycan-associated protein of L. pneumophila (Ppl). The corresponding genetic determinant, ppl, was subcloned on a 1.8-kb ClaI fragment. DNA sequence studies revealed that two open reading frames, pplA and pplB, coding for putative proteins of 18.9 and 16.8 kDa, respectively, were located on the ClaI fragment. Exonuclease III digestion studies confirmed that pplA is the gene coding for the peptidoglycan-associated 19-kDa protein of L. pneumophila. The amino acid sequence of PplA exhibits a high degree of homology to the sequences of the Pal lipoproteins of E. coli K-12 and Haemophilus influenzae.