Proteus mirabilis ambient-temperature fimbriae: cloning and nucleotide sequence of the aft gene cluster

Uropathogenic Proteus mirabilis produces at least four types of fimbriae. Amino acid sequences from two peptides, derived by tryptic digestion of the structural subunit of one type of these fimbriae, the ambient-temperature fimbriae, were determined: NVVPGQPSSTQ and LIEGENQLNYNA. PCR primers, based on these sequences and that of the N terminus, were used to amplify a 359-bp fragment. A cosmid clone, isolated from a P. mirabilis genomic library by hybridization with the 359-bp PCR product, was used to determine the nucleotide sequence of the atf gene cluster. A 3,903-bp region encodes three polypeptides: AtfA, the structural subunit; AtfB, the chaperone; and AtfC, the outer membrane molecular usher. No fimbria-related genes are evident either 5' or 3' to the three contiguous genes. AtfA demonstrates significant amino acid sequence identity with type 1 major fimbrial subunits of several enteric species. The 359-bp PCR product hybridized strongly with all Proteus isolates (n = 9) and 25% of 355 Escherichia coli isolates but failed to hybridize with any of 26 isolates among nine other uropathogenic species. Ambient-temperature fimbriae of P. mirabilis may represent a novel type of fimbriae of enteric species.