Isolation, expression, and nucleotide sequencing of the pilin structural gene of the Brazilian purpuric fever clone of Haemophilus influenzae biogroup aegyptius

Abstract

In this study we isolated the pilin gene from the Brazilian purpuric fever (BPF) clone of Haemophilus influenzae biogroup aegyptius, expressed the gene in Escherichia coli, and determined its nucleotide sequence. Comparison of the nucleotide sequence of the BPF pilin gene with the sequences of pilin genes from strains of H. influenzae sensu stricto demonstrated a high degree of identity. Consistent with this observation, hemagglutination inhibition studies performed with a series of glycoconjugates indicated that BPF pili and H. influenzae type b pili possess the same erythrocyte receptor specificity.