An oligopeptide permease A(OppA)was purified from the extracellular product of Vibrio harveyi SF-1.The molecular weight of the purified protein was estimated to be 58 kDa on SDS-PAGE.The purified protein showed phospholipase C activity at the optimal values of temperature 50℃ and pH 8.0.The enzymatic activity decreased when the temperature increased to 40℃.The N-terminal sequence of the purified protein was determined as ADVPAGTKLA,which is similar to that of OppA.The OppA pre-cursor gene was cloned from the genome of V.harveyi SF-1.The gene consisted of 1665 base pairs and encoded a 554 amino acid polypeptide,which showed a high similarity to those of the OppAs of V.harveyi and other Vibrio species.The gene was subcloned into pET-28a(+)and expressed in Escherichia coli.The expressed recombinant protein was purified by Ni-NTA metal affinity chro-matography.The expressed recombinant protein showed a 58 kDa band on SDS-PAGE and exhibited phospholipase C activity with the optima of temperature 50℃ and pH 8.0.The purified protein was toxic to the flounder gill cells.An OppA mutant of V.harveyi SF-1 was constructed by homologous recombination.The mutant strain was less virulent when it was intraperitoneally inoculated to zebra fish,with the LD50 of 5.46×105 CFU fish-1,compared to 3.11×104 CFU fish-1 of the wild-type strain,which indicated that the OppA might play an important role in the pathogenicity of V.harveyi.
