CLONING AND NUCLEOTIDE-SEQUENCE OF THE PSEUDOMONAS-AERUGINOSA NFXB GENE, CONFERRING RESISTANCE TO NEW QUINOLONES

The gene nfxB is one of the genes which affect the cell membrane permeability of quinolones in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO. Both wild-type nfxB and a mutant nfxB (nfx13E) were cloned and the DNA sequences were determined. The wild-type gene was dominant in PAO strains. The nfxB mutation was a point mutation (cytosine --> guanine) which generates an amino acid exchange (arginine --> glycine) in the putative nfxB product. The amino acid sequence of the wild-type NfxB protein revealed that it has a helix-turn-helix motif which may be responsible for the ability to bind in a sequence-specific manner to DNA. This finding indicated that the NfxB protein may regulate the expression of genes that are associated with cell permeability of drugs in P. aeruginosa. The position of the amino acid substitution between the NfxB protein and the Nfxl3E protein was located within a possible DNA-binding domain, suggesting that the mutant protein (Nfx13E) may have lost DNA binding ability and regulator activity.