An acyl-CoA synthase (acoas) gene adjacent to the mycocerosic acid synthase (mas) locus is necessary for mycocerosyl lipid synthesis in Mycobacterium tuberculosis var. bovis BCG.

An open reading frame, ORF3, first identified adjacent to the mycocerosic acid synthase gene in Mycobacterium bovis BCG encodes a protein with acyl-CoA synthase (ACoAS) activity. Genes homologous to acoas are found adjacent to other multifunctional polyketide synthase genes in the mycobacterial genome. To test whether these gene products are necessary to esterify the fatty acids generated by the adjacent polyketide synthase gene products, the acoas gene was disrupted in M. bovis BCG using a suicide vector containing the acoas gene with an internal deletion and the hygromycin-resistant gene as selection marker. Allelic exchange at the acoas locus was confirmed by Southern hybridization and polymerase chain reaction amplification of both flanking regions expected from homologous recombination. Immunoblot analysis indicated that the 65-kDa ACoAS protein product was absent in the mutant. Chromatographic analysis of lipids derived from [1-14C]propionate showed that the mutant did not produce mycocerosyl lipids, although it produced normal levels of mycocerosic acid synthase. These results suggest that ACoAS is involved in the synthesis of mycocerosyl lipids of the mycobacterial cell wall.