Role of dprA in transformation of Campylobacter jejuni

The role of a dprA ortholog (Cj0634) in Campylobacterjejuni transformation was phenotypically assessed using two strains. C. jejuni strain 11168 was naturally competent for transformation by chromosomal DNA, while efficiency decreased 100-fold in a Cj0634::aphA mutant, whereas C. jejuni strain 480 was not naturally competent. C. jejuni strain 480 but not 11168 could be electro-transformed by shuttle plasmid pRY111, an effect completely abolished by Qj0634 interruption. Complementation of the Cj0634 mutation in C. jejuni strain 480 in trans with vectors containing the dprA homologs from C jejuni, Helicobacter pylori, or Haemophilus influenzae, completely (for Cj0634) or partially (H. pylori > H. influenzae) restored electro-transformation. Thus, C jejuni expresses a DprA ortholog that functionally most closely resembles that of H. pylori and is involved in DNA transformation. (c) 2005 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.