Characterization of a second lysine decarboxylase isolated from Escherichia coli

We report here on the existence of a new gene for lysine decarboxylase in Escherichia coli K-12. The hybridization experiments with a cadA probe at low stringency showed that the homologous region of cadA was located in lambda Kohara phage clone 6F5 at 4.7 min on the E. coli chromosome. We cloned the 5.0-kb HindIII fragment of this phage clone and sequenced the homologous region of cadA. This region contained a 2,139-nucleotide open reading frame encoding a 713-amino-acid protein with a calculated molecular weight of 80,589. Overexpression of the protein and determination of its N-terminal amino acid sequence defined the translational start site of this gene. The deduced amino acid sequence showed 69.4% identity to that of lysine decarboxylase encoded by cadA at 93.7 min on the E. coli chromosome. In addition, the level of lysine decarboxylase activity increased in strains carrying multiple copies of the gene. Therefore, the gene encoding this lysine decarboxylase was designated Idc. Analysis of the lysine decarboxylase activity of strains containing cadA, ldc, or cadA ldc mutations indicated that ldc was weakly expressed under various conditions but is a functional gene in E. coli.