Nucleotide sequencing and expression of the fadL gene involved in long-chain fatty acid transport in Escherichia coli.

The fadL gene of Escherichia coli codes for an outer membrane protein involved in long-chain fatty acid transport. Its product was purified from outer membrane proteins. We determined the nucleotide sequence of a 2.8-kb chromosomal DNA segment that contains the fadL gene. The fadL gene consists of a 1149-nucleotide coding region and contains a highly hydrophobic polypeptide of 383 amino acids with a calculated molecular weight of 42,380. We have used S1-mapping analysis to identify the transcription initiation site. A region exhibiting extensive dyad symmetry and perfect homology to the catabolite activator protein binding site was detected.