Cloning and Expression of the Mycoplasma hominis ftsZ Gene for a Cell Division Protein

A Mycoplasma hominis chromosomal fragment containing the full-length ftsZ gene was cloned and sequenced. Natural expression of this gene was demonstrated by reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT–PCR) with total RNA. The M. hominis FtsZ protein was shown to differ substantially from its counterparts of two other Mycoplasma species, M. genitalium, and M. pneumoniae. The possibility of M. hominis ftsZ expression in Escherichia coli was demonstrated with several bacterial strains. The M. hominis FtsZ protein was isolated from E. coli cells transformed with recombinant plasmids carrying the M. hominis ftsZ gene. Complementation between the E. coli and M. hominis FtsZ proteins was observed in transformants.