Amino acid sequence of pheromone‐inducible surface protein in Enterococcus faecalis, that is encoded on the conjugative plasmid pPD1

The major pheromone‐inducible protein, PD78, believed to contribute to bacterial conjugation, was purified from Enterococcus (formerly Streptococcus) faecalis cells containing the plasmid pPD1. A cloned EcoRI‐Bg1II 3.6‐kbp fragment of the plasmid pAM351(pPd1::Tn916) contained an open reading frame corresponding to 467 amino acid residues representing PD78. In a central region of the deduced protein, there is a repeated sequence of X‐X‐Pro that is repeated 15 times. This is analogous to the Gin‐Gin‐Pro repeat in the C‐tenninal region of TraD product encoded on the R 100 plasmid in Escherichia coli.