The gene that codes for the alpha-subunit of methylamine dehydrogenase from Thiobacillus versutus, madA, was cloned and sequenced. It codes for a protein of 395 amino acids preceded by a leader sequence of 31 amino acids. The derived amino acid sequence was confirmed by partial amino acid sequencing. The start of the mature protein could not be determined by direct sequencing, since the N termi...

Using cointegrate formation, we constructed a basic replicon of the megaplasmid/mini-chromosome pTAV3 of Paracoccus versutus UW1. It is composed of two adjacent modules, responsible for plasmid replication (rep) and partitioning (par). Functional analysis of the par region identified a determinant of incompatibility (inc2), whose presence is crucial for proper partitioning (the partitioning sit...

Thiobacillus novellus is a facultatively chemolithoautotrophic and methylotrophic, Gram-negative, rod-shaped sulfur bacterium, shown by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis to be a member of the alpha-2 subclass of the Proteobacteria. As such, it must be excluded from the genus Thiobacillus, whose species are members of the beta-Proteobacteria. It closest phylogenetic neighbour appears to be Ancylob...