Structural and functional analysis of <Emphasis Type="Italic">araC</Emphasis> gene in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Yersinia pestis</Emphasis> of various origins

Structural and functional analyses of the araC gene, which is involved in regulation of expression of diagnostically important characteristics, such as arabinose fermentation in the plague microbe strain, were carried out. It was established that the reason for the lack of arabinose fermentation in the altaica and hissarica subspecies and strains of talassica groups is the presence of the insertion of a single nucleotide in the araC gene at position 773 bp. The strains of the basic, caucasia, and ulegeica subspecies do not contain this mutation in the araC gene, which correlates to their ability to ferment arabinose.