Sequence of the argF gene encoding ornithine transcarbamoylase from Neisseria gonorrhoeae

The gonococcal argF gene encoding ornithine transcarbamoylase (OTCase) contains an open reading frame of 993 nucleotides which starts with a GUG codon and encodes a peptide with a deduced Mr of 36,731. We compared the predicted amino acid (aa) sequence to OTCase sequences previously determined for Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa and found that highly conserved regions in the genes from these organisms were also conserved in Neisseria gonorrhoeae, including those aa known to be important for carbamoyl phosphate and ornithine binding. In the flanking regions of the gene were found 15-bp inverted repeats that may serve as transcriptional termination signals, and which contain the neisserial DNA-uptake sequence.