... cloned into the vector pQE16 in frame with the His-tag-encodingsequence. The lepB gene was PCR ampli®ed from E. coliDNA using the primers Lep1 and Lep2 (Table 2), and thencloned into the pQE16 ... ABLASTsearch of the nucleotidesequence of the ampli®ed DNA fragment revealed the presence of three ORFs, the deduced proteins having 70, 77, and 67% identity to proteins encoded by the yhjE-sipV-yhjGTable ... extension, the forwardprimers CH1 and C H2 were designed for conservedregions HFGAGNIG and HGSAPDIAG of the genesmtlD and ycsA, which map in B. subtilis upstream of the searched sipU, and used...