Mycobacteria contain two groEL genes: the second Mycobacterium leprae groEL gene is arranged in an operon with groES.

In contrast to other bacterial species, mycobacteria were thus far considered to contain groEL and groES genes that are present on separate loci on their chromosomes, Here, by screening a Mycobacterium leprae lambda gt11 expression library with serum from an Ethiopian lepromatous leprosy patient, two DNA clones were isolated that contain a groEL gene arranged in an operon with a groES gene. The complete DNA sequence of this groESL operon was determined. The predicted amino acid sequences of the GroES and GroEL proteins encoded by this operon are 85-90% and 59-61% homologous to the sequences from previously characterized mycobacterial GroES and GroEL proteins. Southern blotting analyses with M. leprae groES- and groEL-specific probes demonstrate that similar groESL homologous DNA is present in the genomes of other mycobacteria, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This strongly suggests that mycobacteria contain a groESL operon in addition to a separately arranged second groEL gene. Using five T-cell clones from two leprosy patients as probes, expression of the M. leprae GroES protein in Escherichia coli after heat shock was demonstrated. Four of these clones recognized the same M. leprae-specific GroES-derived peptide in a DR2-restricted fashion. No expression of the groEL gene from this operon was detected in E. coli after heat shock, as tested with a panel of T-cell clones and monoclonal antibodies reactive to previously described GroEL proteins of mycobacteria.