Identification of two new genes in the Pseudomonas aeruginosa amidase operon, encoding an ATPase (AmiB) and a putative integral membrane protein (AmiS).

The nucleotide sequence of the amidase operon of Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been completed and two new genes identified amiB and amiS. The complete gene order for the operon is thus amiEBCRS. The amiB gene encodes a 42-kDa protein containing an ATP binding motif that shares extensive homology with the Clp family of proteins and also to an open reading frame adjacent to the amidase gene from Rhodococcus erythropolis. Deletion of the amiB gene has no apparent effect on inducible amidase expression and it is thus unlikely to encode a regulatory protein. A maltose-binding protein-AmiB fusion has been purified and shown to have an intrinsic ATPase activity (Km = 174 +/- 15 mM; Vmax = 2.4 +/- 0.1 mM/min/mg), which is effectively inhibited by ammonium vanadate and ADP. The amiS gene encodes an 18-kDa protein with a high content of hydrophobic residues. Hydropathy analysis suggests the presence of six transmembrane helices in this protein. The AmiS sequences is homologous to an open reading frame identified adjacent to the amidase gene from Mycobacterium smegmatis and to the ureI gene from the urease operon of Helicobacter pylori. AmiS and its homologs appear to be a novel family of integral membrane proteins. Together AmiB and AmiS resemble two components of an ABC transporter system.