Identification and Characterization of hsa , the Gene Encoding the Sialic Acid-Binding Adhesin of Streptococcus gordonii DL1

Abstract

ABSTRACT Oral colonization by Streptococcus gordonii , an important cause of subacute bacterial endocarditis, involves bacterial recognition of sialic acid-containing host receptors. The sialic acid-binding activity of this microorganism was previously detected by bacterium-mediated hemagglutination and associated with a streptococcal surface component identified as the Hs antigen. The gene for this antigen ( hsa ) has now been cloned in Escherichia coli , and its expression has been detected by colony immunoblotting with anti-Hs serum. Mutants of S. gordonii containing hsa inactivated by the insertion of an erythromycin resistance gene or deletion from the chromosome were negative for Hs-immunoreactivity, bacterium-mediated hemagglutinating activity, and adhesion to α2-3-linked sialoglycoconjugates. The deletion in the latter mutants was complemented by plasmid-borne hsa , resulting in Hs antigen production and the restoration of cell surface sialic acid-binding activity. The hsa gene encodes a 203-kDa protein with two serine-rich repetitive regions in its 2,178-amino-acid sequence. The first serine-rich region occurs within the amino-terminal region of the molecule, between different nonrepetitive sequences that may be associated with sialic acid binding. The second serine-rich region, which is much longer than the first, is highly repetitive, containing 113 dodecapeptide repeats with a consensus sequence of SASTSASVSASE. This long repetitive region is followed by a typical gram-positive cell wall anchoring region at the carboxyl-terminal end. Thus, the predicted properties of Hsa, which suggest an amino-terminal receptor-binding domain attached to the cell surface by a molecular stalk, are consistent with the identification of this protein as the sialic acid-binding adhesin of S. gordonii DL1.