Open reading frame 3, which is adjacent to the mycocerosic acid synthase gene, is expressed as an acyl coenzyme A synthase in Mycobacterium bovis BCG.

The aim of this study was to test for expression of a 900-bp open reading frame (ORF), ORF3, located at the 5' end of the mycocerosic acid synthase gene in Mycobacterium bovis BCG and to determine the nature of the ORF3 protein. ORF3 was expressed as a 61-kDa C-terminal fusion protein with glutathione S-transferase in Escherichia coli. Polyclonal rabbit antiserum, prepared against this fusion protein, cross-reacted with a 65-kDa protein in M. bovis BCG crude extracts. Since this protein was larger than that predicted from the nucleotide sequence (32 kDa), ORF3 was resequenced, revealing an ORF of 1,749 bp that encodes a 64.8-kDa protein containing 583 amino acids. Reverse transcription-PCR revealed that ORF3 is expressed in M. bovis BCG. The ORF3 product has a high degree of similarity to the acyladenylate family of enzymes. Immunoaffinity absorption chromatography was used to isolate the 65-kDa cross-reacting protein from M. bovis BCG. This purified protein catalyzed coenzyme A (CoA) ester synthesis of n-C10 to n-C18 fatty acids but not mycocerosic acids. ORF3 antibodies severely inhibited acyl-CoA synthase activities of the purified protein and extracts of M. bovis BCG, Mycobacterium smegmatis, and E. coli. They also showed immunological cross-reactivity with proteins in these extracts. Both the ORF3 protein and the acyl-CoA synthase activity were located in the cell cytosol or were loosely associated with the cell membrane. These results indicate that ORF3 encodes an acyl-CoA synthase-like protein.