6-PHOSPHOGLUCONATE DEHYDROGENASE OF STREPTOCOCCUS PNEUMONIAE

Abstract: The invention provides 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptides and polynucleotides encoding 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptides and methods for producing such polypeptides by recombinant techniques. Also provided are methods for utilizing 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptides to screen for antibacterial compounds.

Description: -PHOSPHOGLUCONATE DEHYDROGENASE OF STREPTOCOCCUS PNEUMONIAE FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to newly identified polynucleotides and polypeptides, and their production and uses, as well as their variants, agonists and antagonists, and their uses. In particular, the invention relates to polynucleotides and polypeptides of the dehydrogenase family, as well as their variants, hereinafter referred to as "6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase," "6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polynucleotide(s)," and "6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptide(s)." BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The Streptococci make up a medically important genera of microbes known to cause several types of disease in humans, including, for example, otitis media, conjunctivitis, pneumonia, bacteremia, meningitis, sinusitis, pleural empyema and endocarditis, and most particularly meningitis, such as for example infection of cerebrospinal fluid. Since its isolation more than 100 years ago, Streptococcus pneumoniae has been one of the more intensively studied microbes. For example, much of our early understanding that DNA is, in fact, the genetic material was predicated on the work of Griffith and of Avery, Macleod and McCarty using this microbe. Despite the vast amount of research with Streptococcus pneumoniae, many questions concerning the virulence of this microbe remain. It is particularly preferred to employ Streptococcal genes and gene products as targets for the development of antibiotics. The frequency of Streptococcus pneumoniae infections has risen dramatically in the past few decades. This has been attributed to the emergence of multiply antibiotic resistant strains and an increasing population of people with weakened immune systems. It is no longer uncommon to isolate Streptococcus pneumoniae strains which are resistant to some or all of the standard antibiotics. This phenomenon has created an unmet medical need and demand for new anti-microbial agents, vaccines, drug screening methods, and diagnostic tests for this organism. Moreover, the drug discovery process is currently undergoing a fundamental revolution as it embraces "functional genomics," that is, high throughput genome- or gene-based biology. This approach is rapidly superseding earlier approaches based on "positional cloning" and other methods. Functional genomics relies heavily on the various tools of bioinformatics to identify gene sequences of potential interest from the many molecular biology databases now available as well as from other 1 - sources There is a continuing and significant need to identify and characterize further genes and other polynucleotides sequences and their related polypeptides. as targets for drug discovery Clearly, there exists a need for polynucleotides and polypeptides, such as the 6- phosphogluconate dehydrogenase embodiments of the invention, that have a present benefit of, among other things, being useful to screen compounds for antibiotic activity Such factors are also useful to determine their role in pathogenesis of infection, dysfunction and disease There is also a need for identification and charactenzation of such factors and their antagonists and agonists to find ways to prevent, ameliorate or correct such infection, dysfunction and disease Certain of the polypeptides of the invention possess significant amino acid sequence homology to a known Lactococcus lactis 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase U74322 protein (Ohara H et al Biosci Biotechnol Biochem 1996 60(4) 692-6933, Gilmour MN, et al J Bacteπol 1987 169(11) 5247-5257) SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, in particular 6- phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptides and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polynucleotides, recombinant matenals and methods for their production In another aspect, the invention relates to methods for using such polypeptides and polynucleotides, including the treatment of microbial diseases, amongst others In a further aspect, the mvention relates to methods for identifying agomsts and antagonists using the matenals provided by the invention, and for treating microbial infections and conditions associated with such infections with the identified compounds In a still further aspect, the invention relates to diagnostic assays for detecting diseases associated with microbial mfections and conditions associated with such mfections, such as assays for detecting 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase expression or activity Vanous changes and modifications within the spmt and scope of the disclosed invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from reading the following descnptions and from reading the other parts of the present disclosure DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptides and polynucleotides as descnbed in greater detail below In particular the invention relates to polypeptides and polynucleotides of a 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase of Streptococcus pneumoniae, which is related by amino acid sequence homology to Lactococcus lactis 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase - 2 - U74322 polypeptide The invention relates especially to 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase having the nucleotide and ammo acid sequences set out m Table 1 as SEQ ID NO 1 and SEQ ID NO 2 respectively _ TABLE 1 6-phosphogIuconate dehydrogenase Polynucleotide and Polypeptide Sequences (A) Streptococcus pneumoniae 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polynucleotide sequence [SEQ ID NO 1] 5 ' -ACCCGATCAAATGACAAAAGCTAACTTTGGTGTCGTAGGTATGGCCGTAA TGGGTCGTAACCTTGCCCTTAATATTGAATCWCGTGGTTACACAGTTGCT ATCTACAACCGTAGTAAAGAAAAAACGGAAGATGTGATTGCTTGCCATCC TGAAAAGAACTTTGTACCAAGCTATGACGTTGAAAGTTTTGTAAACTCAA TCGAAAAACCTCGTCGTATCATGCTGATGGTTCAAGCTGGACCTGGTACA GATGCTACTATCCAAGCCCTTCTTCCACACCTTGACAAGGGTGATATCTT GATTGACGGWGGAAATACTTTCTACAAAGATACCATCCGTCGTAATGAAG AATTGGCAAACTCWGGTATCAACTTTATCGGTACTGGRGTTTCTGGTGGT GAAAAAGGTGCCCTTGAAGGTCCTTCTATCATGCCTGGTGGACAAAAAGA RGCCTACGAATTGGTTGCGGATGTTCTTGAAGAAATCTCAGCTAAAGCAC CAGAAGATGGCAARCCATGTGTGACTTACATCGGTCCTGATGGAGCTGGT CACTATGTGAAAATGGTTCACAATGGTATTGAGTACGGTGATATGCAATT GATCGCAGAAAGCTATGACTTGATGCAACACTTGCTAGGCCTTTCTGCAG AAGATATGGCTGAAATCTTTACTGAGTGGAACAAGGGTGAATTAGACAGC TACTTGATTGAAATCACAGCTGATATCTTGAGCCGTAAAGACGATGAAGG CCAAGATGGACCAATCGTAGACTACATCCTTGATGCTGCAGGTAACAAGG GAACTGGTAAATGGACTAGCCAATCATCTCTTGACCTTGGTGTACCATTG TCACTGATTACTGAGTCAGTGTTTGCACGCTACATTTCAACTTACAAAGA AGAACGTGTACATGCTAGCAAGGTGCTTCCAAAACCAGCTGCCTTCAACT TTGAAGGAGACAAGGCTGAATTGATTGAAAAGATCCGTCAAGCCCTTTAC TTCTCAAAAATCATTTCATACGCACAAGGATTTGCTCAATTGCGTGTAGC CTCTAAAGAAAACAACTGGAACTTGCCATTTGCAGATATCGCATCTATCT GGCGTGATGGCTGTATCATCCGTTCTCGTTTCTTGCAAAAGATTACAGAT GCTTACAACCGCGATGCAGATCTTGCCAACCTTCTTTTGGACGAGTACTT CTTGGATGTTACTGCTAAGTACCAACAAGCAGTACGTGATATCGTAGCTC TTGCGGTTCAAGCAGGTGTGCCAGTGCCAACTTTCTCAGCAGCTATTACT TACTTTGATAGCTACCGTTCAGCTGACCTTCCAGCTAACTTGATCCAAGC ACAACGTGACTACTTTGGTGCTCACACTTACCAACGTAAAGACAAAGAAG GAACCTTCCACTACTCTTGGTATGACGAAAAATAAGTAGGTCAGCCATGG GGAAACGGATTTTATTACTTGAGAAAGAACGAAATCTAGCTCATTTTTTA AGTTTGGAACTCCAGAAAGAGCAGTATCGGGTTGATCTGGTAGAGGAGGG GCAAAAAGCCCTCTCCATGGCTCTTCAGACAGACTATGATTTGATTTTAT TGAACGTTAATCTGGGAGATATGATGGCTCAGGATTTTGCAGAAAAATTG AGCCGAACTAAACCTGCCTCAGTCATCATGATTTTAGATCATTGGGAAGA CTTGCAAGAAGAGCTGGAAGTTGTTCAGCGTTTTGCAGTTTCATACATCT ATAAGCCAGTCCTTATCGAAAATCTGGTAGCGCGTATTTCGGCRATCTTC CGAGGTCGGGACTTCATTGATCAACACTGCAGTCTGATGAAAGTTCCAAG GACCTACCGCAATCTTAGGATAGATGTTGAACATCACACGGTTTATCGTG GTGAAGAGATGATTGCTCTGACCCGCCGTGAGTATGACCTTTTGGCGACA CTTATGGGAAGCAAGAAAGTATTGACTCGTGAGCAATTGTTGGAAAGTGT TTGGAAGTATGAAAGTGCGACCGAGACAAATATCGTAGATGTCTATATCC GCTATCTACGGAGCAAGCTTGATGTTAAAGGCCAAAA-3 ' (B) Streptococcus pneumoniae 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptide sequence deduced from a polynucleotide sequence in this table [SEQ ID NO 2] NH 2 -MTKANFGWGMAVMGRNLALNIESRGYTVAIYNRSKEKTEDVIACHPEKN FVPSYDVESFV SIEKPRRIM MVQAGPGTDATIQALLPHLDKGDILIDG GNTFYKDTIRRNEELANSGINFIGTGVSGGEKGALEGPSIMPGGQKEAYE LVADVLEEISAKAPEDGKPCVTYIGPDGAGHWKMVΗNGIEYGDMQLIAE SYDLMQHLLGLSAEDMAEIF E NKGELDSYLIEITADILSRKDDEGQDG PIVDYILDAAGNKGTGKWTSQSSLDLGVPLSLITESVFARYISTYKEERV HASKVLPKPAAFNFEGDKAELIEKIRQALYFSKIISYAQGFAQLRVASKE NNWNLPFADIASI RDGCIIRSRFLQKITDAYNRDAD ANLLLDEYFLDV TAKYQQAVRDIVALAVQAGVPVPTFSAAITYFDSYRSADLPA LIQAQRD YFGAHTYQRKDKEGTFHYSWYDEK-COOH -4 Deposited materials A deposit containing a Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993 strain has been deposited with the National Collections of Industnal and Marine Bacteπa Ltd (herem "NCIMB"). 23 St Machar Dnve, Aberdeen AB2 1RY, Scotland on 11 April 1996 and assigned deposit number 40794 The deposit was descnbed as Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993 on deposit On 17 Apnl 1996 a Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993 DNA library m E co was similarly deposited with the NCIMB and assigned deposit number 40800 The Streptococcus pneumoniae stram deposit is referred to herem as "the deposited stram" or as "the DNA of the deposited .stram " The deposited stram contains the full length 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase gene The sequence of the polynucleotides contamed in the deposited strain, as well as the amino acid sequence of any polypeptide encoded thereby, are controlling m the event of any conflict with any descnption of sequences herem The deposit of the deposited stram has been made under the terms of the Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Micro-organisms for Purposes of Patent Procedure The stram will be irrevocably and without restnction or condition released to the public upon the issuance of a patent The deposited strain is provided merely as convenience to those of skill in the art and is not an admission that a deposit is required for enablement, such as that required under 35 U S.C §112 A license may be required to make, use or sell the deposited strain, and compounds denved therefrom, and no such license is hereby granted In one aspect of the invention there is provided an isolated nucleic acid molecule encoding a mature polypeptide expressible by the Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993 strain, which polypeptide is contamed in the deposited stram Further provided by the mvention are 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polynucleotide sequences in the deposited strain, such as DNA and RNA, and amino acid sequences encoded thereby Also provided by the mvention are 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptide and polynucleotide sequences isolated from the deposited stram Polypeptides The 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptide of the invention is substantially phylogenetically related to other proteins of the dehydrogenase family In one aspect of the mvention there are provided polypeptides of Streptococcus pneumoniae referred to herem as "6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase" and "6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptides" as well as biologically, diagnostically, prophylactically, clinically or therapeuucally useful vanants thereof, and compositions compnsing the same - 5 - Among the particularly preferred embodiments of the invention are vanants of 6- phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptide encoded by naturally occurring alleles of the 6- phosphogluconate dehydrogenase gene The present mvention further provides for an isolated polypeptide which (a) comprises or consists of an ammo acid sequence which has at least 75% identity, preferably at least 80% identity, more preferably at least 90% identity, yet more preferably at least 95% identity, most preferably at least 97-99% or exact identity, to that of SEQ ID NO 2 over the entire length of SEQ ID NO 2, (b) a polypeptide encoded by an isolated polynucleotide comprising or consisting of a polynucleotide sequence which has at least 75% identity, preferably at least 80% identity, more preferably at least 90% identity, yet more preferably at least 95% identity, even more preferably at least 97-99% or exact identity to SEQ ID NO 1 over the entire length of SEQ ID NO 1 , (c) a polypeptide encoded by an isolated polynucleotide comprising or consisting of a polynucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide which has at least 75% identity, preferably at least 80% identity, more preferably at least 90% identity, yet more preferably at least 95% identity, even more preferably at least 97-99% or exact identity, to the ammo acid sequence of SEQ ID NO 2, over the entire length of SEQ ID NO 2 The polypeptides of the mvention clude a polypeptide of Table 1 [SEQ ID NO 2] (m particular the mature polypeptide) as well as polypeptides and fragments, particularly those which have the biological activity of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, and also those which have at least 75% identity to a polypeptide of Table 1 [SEQ ID NO 1] or the relevant portion, preferably at least 80% identity to a polypeptide of Table 1 [SEQ ID NO 2] and more preferably at least 90% identity to a polypeptide of Table 1 [SEQ ID NO 2] and still more preferably at least 95% identity to a polypeptide of Table 1 [SEQ ID NO 2] and also mclude portions of such polypeptides with such portion of the polypeptide generally containmg at least 30 ammo acids and more preferably at least 50 ammo acids The mvention also includes a polypeptide consisting of or compnsmg a polypeptide of the formula X-(Rι ) m -(R 2 )-(R 3 )n-Y wherein, at the ammo termmus, X is hydrogen, a metal or any other moiety descnbed herein for modified polypeptides, and at the carboxyl termmus, Y is hydrogen, a metal or any other moiety descnbed herem for modified polypeptides. Ri and R3 are any ammo acid residue or modified amino acid residue, m is an integer between 1 and 1000 or zero, n is an integer between 1 and 1000 or zero, and R2 is an ammo acid sequence of the mvention, particularly an ammo acid sequence selected from Table 1 or modified forms thereof. In the formula above, R 2 is oriented so that its amino terminal amino acid residue is at the left, covalently bound to R\ and its carboxy terminal amino acid residue is at the right, covalently bound to R3. Any stretch of amino acid residues denoted by either Ri or R3, where m and/or n is greater than 1, may be either a heteropolymer or a homopolymer, preferably a heteropolymer. Other preferred embodiments of the invention are provided where m is an integer between 1 and 50, 100 or 500, and n is an integer between 1 and 50, 100, or 500. It is most preferred that a polypeptide of the invention is derived from Streptococcus pneumoniae, however, it may preferably be obtained from other organisms of the same taxonomic genus. A polypeptide of the invention may also be obtained, for example, from organisms of the same taxonomic family or order. A fragment is a variant polypeptide having an amino acid sequence that is entirely the same as part but not all of any amino acid sequence of any polypeptide of the invention. As with 6- phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptides, fragments may be "free-standing," or comprised within a larger polypeptide of which they form a part or region, most preferably as a single continuous region in a single larger polypeptide. Preferred fragments include, for example, truncation polypeptides having a portion of an amino acid sequence of Table 1 [SEQ ID NO:2], or of variants thereof, such as a continuous series of residues that includes an amino- and/or carboxyl-terminal amino acid sequence. Degradation forms of the polypeptides of the invention produced by or in a host cell, particularly a Streptococcus pneumoniae, are also preferred. Further preferred are fragments characterized by structural or functional attributes such as fragments that comprise alpha-helix and alpha-helix forming regions, beta-sheet and beta-sheet-forming regions, turn and turn-forming regions, coil and coil-forming regions, hydrophilic regions, hydrophobic regions, alpha amphipathic regions, beta amphipathic regions, flexible regions, surface-forming regions, substrate binding region, and high antigenic index regions. Further preferred fragments include an isolated polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 15, 20, 30, 40, 50 or 100 contiguous amino acids from the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2, or an isolated polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence having at least 15, 20, 30, 40, 50 or 100 contiguous amino acids truncated or deleted from the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2. Also preferred are biologically active fragments which are those fragments that mediate activities of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, including those with a similar activity or an improved activity, or with a decreased undesirable activity. Also included are those fragments that are antigenic or immunogenic in an animal, especially in a human. Particularly preferred are fragments comprising - 7 - receptors or domains of enzymes that confer a function essential for viability of Streptococcus pneumoniae or the ability to initiate, or maintain cause Disease in an individual particularly a human Fragments of the polypeptides of the invention may be employed for producmg the corresponding full-length polypeptide by peptide synthesis, therefore, these vanants mav be employed as intermediates for producmg the full-length polypeptides of the mvention In addition to the standard single and triple letter representations for ammo acids, the term "X" or "Xaa" may also be used in describmg certam polypeptides of the invention "X" and "Xaa" mean that any of the twenty naturally occurring ammo acids may appear at such a designated position in the polypeptide sequence Polynucleotides It is an object of the mvention to provide polynucleotides that encode 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptides. particularly polynucleotides that encode the polypeptide herem designated 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase In a particularly preferred embodiment of the mvention the polynucleotide compnses a region encodmg 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptides compnsing a sequence set out m Table 1 [SEQ ID NO 1] which includes a full length gene, or a variant thereof The Applicants believe that this full length gene is essential to the growth and/or survival of an organism which possesses it, such as Streptococcus pneumoniae As a further aspect of the mvention there are provided isolated nucleic acid molecules encodmg and/or expressing 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptdes and polynucleotides, particularly Streptococcus pneumoniae 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptides and polynucleotides. including, for example, unprocessed RNAs, nbozyme RNAs. mRNAs, cDNAs, genomic DNAs, B- and Z-DNAs Further embodiments of the invention mclude biologically, diagnostically, prophylactically, clinically or therapeutically useful polynucleotides and polypeptides, and vanants thereof, and compositions compnsing the same Another aspect of the invention relates to isolated polynucleotides, including at least one full length gene, that encodes a 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptide having a deduced am o acid sequence of Table 1 [SEQ ID NO 2] and polynucleotides closely related thereto and vanants thereof In another particularly preferred embodiment of the invention there is a 6- phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptide from Streptococcus pneumoniae compnsing or consistmg of an amino acid sequence of Table 1 [SEQ ID NO 2], or a vaπant thereof Using the information provided herein, such as a polynucleotide sequence set out m Table 1 [SEQ ID NO 1], a polvnucleotide of the mvention encoding 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptide may be obtained using standard cloning and screenmg methods, such as those for cloning and sequencing chromosomal DNA fragments from bactena usmg Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993 cells as starting matenal, followed by obtaining a full length clone For example, to obtain a polynucleotide sequence of the invention, such as a polynucleotide sequence given m Table 1 [SEQ ID NO 1], typically a library of clones of chromosomal DNA of Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993 m E coh or some other suitable host is probed with a radiolabeled ohgonucleotide, preferably a 17-mer or longer, derived from a partial sequence Clones carrying DNA identical to that of the probe can then be distinguished using stringent hybridization conditions By sequencing the individual clones thus identified by hybridization with sequencmg primers designed from the origmal polypeptide or polynucleotide sequence it is then possible to extend the polynucleotide sequence in both directions to determine a full length gene sequence Conveniently, such sequencmg is performed, for example, usmg denatured double stranded DNA prepared from a plasmid clone Suitable techniques are described by Ma atis, T . Fritsch, E F and Sambrook et al , MOLECULAR CLONING, A LABORATORY MANUAL, 2nd Ed , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, New York (1989) (see in particular Screenmg By Hybridization 1 90 and Sequencmg Denatured Double-Stranded DNA Templates 13 70) Direct genomic DNA sequencing may also be performed to obtain a full length gene sequence Illustrative of the mvention, each polynucleotide set out in Table 1 [SEQ ID NO 1] was discovered in a DNA library denved from Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993 Moreover, each DNA sequence set out in Table 1 [SEQ ID NO 1] contains an open reading frame encodmg a protein having about the number of ammo acid residues set forth m Table 1 [SEQ ID NO 2] with a deduced molecular weight that can be calculated usmg ammo acid residue molecular weight values well known to those skilled m the art The polynucleotide of SEQ ID NO 1, between nucleotide number 11 and the stop codon which begins at nucleotide number 1432 of SEQ ID NO 1, encodes the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO 2 In a further aspect, the present mvention provides for an isolated polynucleotide compπsmg or consistmg of (a) a polynucleotide sequence which has at least 75% identity, preferably at least 80% identity, more preferably at least 90% identity, yet more preferably at least 95% identity, even more preferably at least 97-99% or exact identity to SEQ ID NO 1 over the entire length of SEQ ID NO 1, (b) a polynucleotide sequence encodmg a polypeptide which has at least 75% identity, preferably at least 80% identity, more preferably at least 90% identity, yet more preferably at least 95% identity, even more preferably at least 97-99% or 100% exact to the ammo acid sequence of SEQ ID NO 2, over the entire length of SEQ ID NO 2 A polynucleotide encodmg a polypeptide of the present mvention including homologs and orthologs from species other than Streptococcus pneumoniae. may be obtained by a process which compnses the steps of screenmg an appropnate library under stringent hybndization conditions with a labeled or detectable probe consisting of or compnsmg the sequence of SEQ ID NO 1 or a fragment thereof, and isolating a full-length gene and/or genomic clones containing said polynucleotide sequence The mvention provides a polynucleotide sequence identical over its entire length to a codmg sequence (open reading frame) in Table 1 [SEQ ID NO 1] Also provided by the mvention is a codmg sequence for a mature polypeptide or a fragment thereof, by itself as well as a codmg sequence for a mature polypeptide or a fragment reading frame with another codmg sequence, such as a sequence encodmg a leader or secretory sequence, a pre-, or pro- or prepro-protein sequence The polynucleotide of the mvention may also contain at least one non-coding sequence, including for example, but not limited to at least one non-coding 5 ' and 3 ' sequence, such as the transcnbed but non- translated sequences, termination signals (such as rho-dependent and rho-mdependent termination signals), nbosome binding sites, Kozak sequences, sequences that stabilize mRNA, lntrons, and polyadenylation signals The polynucleotide sequence may also compnse additional codmg sequence encodmg additional ammo acids For example, a marker sequence that facilitates punfication of the fiised polypeptide can be encoded In certam embodiments of the mvention, the marker sequence is a hexa-histidine peptide, as provided m the pQE vector (Qiagen, Inc ) and descnbed m Gentz et al , Proc Natl Acad Set , USA 86 821-824 (1989), or an HA peptide tag (Wilson et al , Cell 37 161 (1984), both of which may be useful m punfying polypeptide sequence fused to them Polynucleotides of the mvention also mclude, but are not limited to, polynucleotides compnsmg a structural gene and its naturally associated sequences that control gene expression A preferred embodiment of the mvention is a polynucleotide of consisting of or compnsmg nucleotide 11 to the nucleotide immediately upstream of or including nucleotide 1432 set forth m SEQ ID NO 1 of Table 1, both of which encode the 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptide The mvention also includes a polynucleotide consisting of or compnsmg a polynucleotide of the formula X-(Rι ) m -(R 2 )-(R 3 ) n -Y wherem, at the 5' end of the molecule, X is hydrogen, a metal or a modified nucleotide residue, or together with Y defines a covalent bond, and at the 3 1 end of the molecule, Y is hydrogen, a metal, or a modified nucleotide residue, or together with X defines the covalent bond, each occurrence of Ri and R3 is mdependently any nucleic acid residue or modified nucleic acid residue, m is an - 10 - integer between 1 and 3000 or zero . n is an integer between 1 and 3000 or zero, and R 2 is a nucleic acid sequence or modified nucleic acid sequence of the mvention, particularly a nucleic acid sequence selected from Table 1 or a modified nucleic acid sequence thereof In the polynucleotide formula above, R 2 is oriented so that its 5' end nucleic acid residue is at the left, bound to R ^ and its 3' end nucleic acid residue is at the right, bound to R3 Any stretch of nucleic acid residues denoted by either R j and/or R 2 , where m and/or n is greater than 1, may be either a heteropolymer or a homopolymer, preferably a heteropolymer Where, in a preferred embodiment, X and Y together define a covalent bond, the polynucleotide of the above formula is a closed, circular polynucleotide, which can be a double-stranded polynucleotide wherein the formula shows a first strand to which the second strand is complementary In another preferred embodiment m and/or n is an integer between 1 and 1000. Other preferred embodiments of the mvention are provided where m is an mteger between 1 and 50, 100 or 500, and n is an mteger between l and 50, 100, or 500 It is most preferred that a polynucleotide of the mvention is denved from Streptococcus pneumoniae, however, it may preferably be obtamed from other orgamsms of the same taxonomic genus A polynucleotide of the mvention may also be obtamed, for example, from orgamsms of the same taxonomic family or order The term "polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide" as used herem encompasses polynucleotides that mclude a sequence encoding a polypeptide of the invention, particularly a bactenal polypeptide and more particularly a polypeptide of the Streptococcus pneumoniae 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase having an ammo acid sequence set out in Table 1 [SEQ ID NO 2] The term also encompasses polynucleotides that mclude a smgle continuous region or discontinuous regions encoding the polypeptide (for example, polynucleotides interrupted by integrated phage. an integrated insertion sequence, an integrated vector sequence, an integrated transposon sequence, or due to RNA editing or genomic DNA reorganization) together with additional regions, that also may contain codmg and/or non-coding sequences The mvention further relates to vanants of the polynucleotides descnbed herem that encode vanants of a polypeptide having a deduced ammo acid sequence of Table 1 [SEQ ID NO 2] Fragments of a polynucleotides of the mvention may be used, for example, to synthesize full-length polynucleotides of the mvention Further particularly preferred embodiments are polynucleotides encodmg 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase vanants, that have the ammo acid sequence of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptide of Table 1 [SEQ ID NO 2] m which several, a few. 5 to 10, 1 to 5. 1 to 3, 2, 1 or no ammo acid residues are substituted, modified, deleted and/or added, in any combination Especially - 11 - preferred among these are silent substitutions, additions and deletions, that do not alter the properties and activities of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptide Further preferred embodiments of the mvention are polynucleotides that are at least 75% identical over their entire length to a polynucleotide encodmg 6-phosphogluconate deh\ drogenase polypeptide having an ammo acid sequence set out in Table 1 [SEQ ID NO 2], and polynucleotides that are complementary to such polynucleotides Alternatively, most highly preferred are polynucleotides that compnse a region that is at least 80% identical over its entire length to a polynucleotide encodmg 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptide and polynucleotides complementary thereto In this regard, polynucleotides at least 90% identical over their entire length to the same are particularly preferred, and among these particularly preferred polynucleotides, those with at least 95% are especially preferred Furthermore, those with at least 97% are highly preferred among those with at least 95%. and among these those with at least 98% and at least 99% are particularly highly preferred, with at least 99% being the more preferred Preferred embodiments are polynucleotides encodmg polypeptides that retain substantially the same biological function or activity as the mature polypeptide encoded by a DNA of Table 1 [SEQ ID NO l] In accordance with certain preferred embodiments of this mvention there are provided polynucleotides that hybndize, particularly under strmgent conditions, to 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polynucleotide sequences, such as those polynucleotides in Table 1 The mvention further relates to polynucleotides that hybndize to the polynucleotide sequences provided herem In this regard, the mvention especially relates to polynucleotides that hybndize under strmgent conditions to the polynucleotides descnbed herem As herem used, the terms "strmgent conditions" and "stringent hybndization conditions" mean hybndization occurring only if there is at least 95% and preferably at least 97% identity between the sequences A specific example of strmgent hybndization conditions is overnight mcubation at 42°C m a solution compnsmg 50% formamide, 5x SSC (150mM NaCl, 15mM tnsodium citrate), 50 mM sodium phosphate (pH7 6), 5x Denhardt's solution, 10% dextran sulfate, and 20 micrograms/ml of denatured, sheared salmon sperm DNA, followed by washing the hybndization support m 0 lx SSC at about 65°C Hybndization and wash conditions are well known and exemplified m Sambrook, et al , Molecular Cloning A Laboratory Manual, Second Edition, Cold Spring Harbor, N Y , (1989), particularly Chapter 11 therein Solution hybndization may also be used with the polynucleotide sequences provided by the invention The invention also provides a polynucleotide consistmg of or compnsmg a polynucleotide sequence obtained by screenmg an appropriate library contaimng the complete - 12 - gene for a polynucleotide sequence set forth m SEQ ID NO 1 under stringent hybndization conditions with a probe having the sequence of said polynucleotide sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO 1 or a fragment thereof, and isolating said polynucleotide sequence Fragments useful for obtaining such a polynucleotide include, for example, probes and primers fully described elsewhere herem As discussed elsewhere herem regarding polynucleotide assays of the invention, for instance, the polynucleotides of the mvention, may be used as a hybndization probe for RNA. cDNA and genomic DNA to isolate full-length cDNAs and genomic clones encodmg 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase and to isolate cDNA and genomic clones of other genes that have a high identity particularly high sequence identity, to the 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase gene Such probes generally will compnse at least 15 nucleotide residues or base pairs Preferably, such probes will have at least 30 nucleotide residues or base pairs and may have at least 50 nucleotide residues or base pairs Particularly prefened probes will have at least 20 nucleotide residues or base pairs and will have lee than 30 nucleotide residues or base pairs A codmg region of a 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase gene may be isolated by screenmg usmg a DNA sequence provided in Table 1 [SEQ ID NO 1] to synthesize an ohgonucleotide probe A labeled ohgonucleotide having a sequence complementary to that of a gene of the mvention is then used to screen a library of cDNA, genomic DNA or mRNA to determine which members of the library the probe hybndizes to There are several methods available and well known to those skilled m the art to obtain full-length DNAs, or extend short DNAs, for example those based on the method of Rapid Amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) (see. for example, Frohman, et al . PNAS USA 85, 8998- 9002, 1988) Recent modifications of the technique, exemplified by the Marathon™ technology (Clontech Laboratories Inc ) for example, have significantly simplified the search for longer cDNAs In the Marathon™ technology, cDNAs have been prepared from mRNA extracted from a chosen tissue and an 'adaptor' sequence hgated onto each end Nucleic acid amplification (PCR) is then carried out to amplify the "missing" 5' end of the DNA usmg a combmation of gene specific and adaptor specific ohgonucleotide primers The PCR reaction is then repeated usmg "nested" primers, that is, primers designed to anneal withm the amplified product (typically an adaptor specific primer that anneals further 3' in the adaptor sequence and a gene specific pnmer that anneals further 5' in the known gene sequence) The products of this reaction can then be analyzed by DNA sequencmg and a full-length DNA constructed either by joining the product directly to the existing DNA to give a complete sequence, or carrying out a separate full-length PCR usmg the new sequence information for the design of the 5' pnmer - 13 - The polynucleotides and polypeptides of the mvention may be employed, for example, as research reagents and matenals for discovery of treatments of and diagnostics for diseases, particularly human diseases, as further discussed herein relating to polynucleotide assays The polynucleotides of the mvention that are ohgonucleotides denved from a sequence of Table 1 [SEQ ID NOS 1 or 2] may be used in the processes herem as described, but preferably for PCR, to determine whether or not the polynucleotides identified herein in whole or in part are transcribed in bacteria in infected tissue It is recognized that such sequences will also have utility m diagnosis of the stage of infection and type of infection the pathogen has attained The mvention also provides polynucleotides that encode a polypeptide that is the mature protein plus additional amino or carboxyl-terminal ammo acids, or ammo acids mtenor to the mature polypeptide (when the mature form has more than one polypeptide chain, for instance) Such sequences may play a role in processing of a protein from precursor to a mature form, may allow protem transport, may lengthen or shorten protem half-life or may facilitate manipulation of a protein for assay or production, among other things As generally is the case in vivo, the additional ammo acids may be processed away from the mature protem by cellular enzymes For each and every polynucleotide of the mvention there is provided a polynucleotide complementary to it It is prefened that these complementary polynucleotides are fully complementary to each polynucleotide with which they are complementary A precursor protein, having a mature form of the polypeptide fused to one or more prosequences may be an inactive form of the polypeptide When prosequences are removed such inactive precursors generally are activated Some or all of the prosequences may be removed before activation Generally, such precursors are called proprote ns In addition to the standard A, G, C, T/U representations for nucleotides, the term "N" may also be used m descnbmg certain polynucleotides of the invention "N" means that any of the four DNA or RNA nucleotides may appear at such a designated position m the DNA or RNA sequence, except it is prefened that N is not a nucleic acid that when taken m combmation with adjacent nucleotide positions, when read m the conect readmg frame, would have the effect of generatmg a premature termination codon m such readmg frame In sum, a polynucleotide of the mvention may encode a mature protein, a mature protem plus a leader sequence (which may be referred to as a preprotein), a precursor of a mature protem having one or more prosequences that are not the leader sequences of a preprotem, or a preproprotein, which is a precursor to a proprotem. having a leader sequence and one or more prosequences. which generally are removed durmg processing steps that produce active and mature forms of the polypeptide Vectors, Host Cells, Expression Systems - 14 - The mvention also relates to vectors that compnse a polynucleotide or polynucleotides of the mvention, host cells that are genetically engineered with vectors of the mvention and the production of polypeptides of the mvention by recombinant techniques Cell-free translation systems can also be employed to produce such proteins usmg RNAs denved from the DNA constructs of the invention Recombinant polypeptides of the present mvention may be prepared by processes well known m those skilled m the art from genetically engineered host cells compnsmg expression systems Accordingly, m a further aspect, the present mvention relates to expression systems which compnse a polynucleotide or polynucleotides of the present mvention, to host cells which are genetically engineered with such expression systems, and to the production of polypeptides of the mvention by recombinant techniques For recombinant production of the polypeptides of the mvention. host cells can be genetically engineered to incorporate expression systems or portions thereof or polynucleotides of the mvention Introduction of a polynucleotide into the host cell can be effected by methods descnbed m many standard laboratory manuals, such as Davis, et al , BASIC METHODS IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, (1986) and Sambrook, et al , MOLECULAR CLONING A LABORATORY MANUAL, 2nd Ed , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N Y (1989), such as, calcium phosphate transfection, DEAE-dextran mediated transfection, transvection, microinjection, catiomc lipid-mediated transfection, electroporation, transduction, scrape loading, ballistic introduction and infection Representative examples of appropnate hosts mclude bactenal cells, such as cells of streptococci, staphylococci, enterococci E coli, streptomyces, cyanobactena, Bacillus subtilis, and Streptococcus pneumoniae, fungal cells, such as cells of a yeast, Kluveromyces. Saccharomyces, a basidiomycete, Candida albicans and Aspergillus, insect cells such as cells of Drosophila S2 and Spodoptera Sf9, animal cells such as CHO, COS, HeLa. C127, 3T3, BHK, 293, CV-1 and Bowes melanoma cells, and plant cells, such as cells of a gymnosperm or angiosperm A great vaπety of expression systems can be used to produce the polypeptides of the mvention Such vectors mclude, among others, chromosomal-, episomal- and virus-denved vectors, for example, vectors denved from bactenal plasrmds, from bactenophage, from transposons, from yeast episomes, from insertion elements, from yeast chromosomal elements, from viruses such as baculoviruses, papova viruses, such as SV40, vaccinia viruses, adenoviruses, fowl pox viruses, pseudorabies viruses, picomaviruses and retroviruses, and vectors denved from combinations thereof, such as those denved from plasmid and bactenophage genetic elements, such as cosmids and phagemids The expression system constructs may contain control regions that regulate as well as engender expression Generally, any system or vector suitable to maintain, propagate or express polynucleotides and/or to express a polypeptide in a host may be used for expression m this regard - 15 - The appropnate DNA sequence may be inserted into the expression system by any of a vanety of well- known and routine techniques, such as. for example, those set forth m Sambrook et al , MOLECULAR CLONING, A LABORATORY MANUAL, (supra) In recombinant expression systems m eukaryotes, for secretion of a translated protem mto the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum, mto the penplasmic space or mto the extracellular environment, appropnate secretion signals may be incorporated mto the expressed polypeptide These signals may be endogenous to the polypeptide or they may be heterologous signals Polypeptides of the mvention can be recovered and punfied from recombinant cell cultures by well-known methods including ammonium sulfate or ethanol precipitation, acid extraction, anion or cation exchange chromatography, phosphocellulose chromatography, hydrophobic interaction chromatography, affinity chromatography, hydroxylapatite chromatographj , and lectin chromatography Most preferably, high performance liquid chromatography is employed for punfication Well known techniques for refolding protem may be employed to regenerate active conformation when the polypeptide is denatured during isolation and or punfication Diagnostic, Prognostic, Serotyping and Mutation Assays This mvention is also related to the use of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polynucleotides and polypeptides of the mvention for use as diagnostic reagents Detection of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polynucleotides and or polypeptides m a eukaryote, particularly a mammal, and especially a human, will provide a diagnostic method for diagnosis of disease, staging of disease or response of an infectious organism to drugs Eukaryotes, particularly mammals, and especially humans, particularly those infected or suspected to be infected with an organism compnsmg the 6- phosphogluconate dehydrogenase gene or protem, may be detected at the nucleic acid or ammo acid level by a vanety of well known techniques as well as by methods provided herem Polypeptides and polynucleotides for prognosis, diagnosis or other analysis may be obtamed from a putatively infected and/or infected mdividual's bodily matenals Polynucleotides from any of these sources, particularly DNA or RNA, may be used directly for detection or may be amplified enzymatically by usmg PCR or any other amplification technique pnor to analysis RNA, particularly mRNA, cDNA and genomic DNA may also be used m the same ways Usmg amplification, characterization of the species and stram of infectious or resident organism present m an individual, may be made by an analysis of the genotype of a selected polynucleotide of the organism Deletions and insertions can be detected by a change m size of the amplified product m compaπson to a genotype of a reference sequence selected from a related organism, preferably a different species of the same genus or a different strain of the same species Point mutations can be identified by hybndizing amplified DNA to labeled 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polynucleotide sequences Perfectly or - 16 - significantly matched sequences can be distinguished from lmperfecth or more significantly mismatched duplexes by DNase or RNase digestion, for DNA or RNA respectively, or by detecting differences m melting temperatures or renaturation kinetics Polynucleotide sequence differences may also be detected by alterations in the electrophoretic mobility of polynucleotide fragments m gels as compared to a reference sequence This may be earned out with or without denaturmg agents Polynucleotide differences may also be detected by direct DNA or RNA sequencmg See. for example. Myers et al , Science, 230 1242 (1985) Sequence changes at specific locations also may be revealed by nuclease protection assays, such as Rnase, VI and SI protection assay or a chemical cleavage method See, for example, Cotton et al , Proc Natl Acad Sci , USA, 85 4397-4401 (1985) In another embodiment, an anay of ohgonucleotides probes compnsmg 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase nucleotide sequence or fragments thereof can be constructed to conduct efficient screenmg of. for example, genetic mutations, serotype. taxonomic classification or identification Anay technology methods are well known and have general applicability and can be used to address a vanety of questions in molecular genetics including gene expression, genetic linkage, and genetic vanability (see, for example, Chee et al , Science, 274 610 (1996)) Thus m another aspect, the present invention relates to a diagnostic kit which comprises (a) a polynucleotide of the present invention, preferably the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO 1, or a fragment thereof , (b) a nucleotide sequence complementary to that of (a), (c) a polypeptide of the present invention, preferably the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO 2 or a fragment thereof, or (d) an antibody to a polypeptide of the present mvention, preferably to the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO 2 It will be appreciated that m any such kit, (a), (b), (c) or (d) may comprise a substantial component Such a kit will be of use in diagnosmg a disease or susceptibility to a Disease, among others This mvention also relates to the use of polynucleotides of the present mvention as diagnostic reagents Detection of a mutated form of a polynucleotide of the mvention. preferable. SEQ ID NO 1 , which is associated with a disease or pathogenicity will provide a diagnostic tool that can add to. or define, a diagnosis of a disease, a prognosis of a course of disease, a determination of a stage of disease, or a susceptibility to a disease, which results from under-expression. over-expression or altered expression of the polynucleotide Organisms, particularly infectious orgamsms. carrying mutations in such polynucleotide may be detected at the polynucleotide level by a vanety of techniques, such as those descnbed elsewhere herem - 17 - The nucleotide sequences of the present invention are also valuable for organism chromosome identification The sequence is specifically targeted to, and can hybndize with, a particular location on an organism's chromosome, particularly to a Streptococcus pneumoniae chromosome The mapping of relevant sequences to chromosomes accordmg to the present mvention may be an important step m conelating those sequences with pathogenic potential and/or an ecological mche of an organism and/or drug resistance of an organism, as well as the essentiality of the gene to the organism Once a sequence has been mapped to a precise chromosomal location, the physical position of the sequence on the chromosome can be conelated with genetic map data Such data may be found on-lme m a sequence database The relationship between genes and diseases that have been mapped to the same chromosomal region are then identified through known genetic methods, for example, through linkage analysis (coinhentance of physically adjacent genes) or mating studies, such as by conjugation The differences in a polynucleotide and/or polypeptide sequence between organisms possessmg a first phenotype and organisms possessing a different, second different phenotype can also be determined If a mutation is observed m some or all organisms possessing the first phenotype but not m any orgamsms possessmg the second phenotype, then the mutation is likely to be the causative agent of the first phenotype Cells from an organism carrying mutations or polymorphisms (allelic vanations) in a polynucleotide and/or polypeptide of the mvention may also be detected at the polynucleotide or polypeptide level by a vanety of techniques, to allow for serotyping for example For example, RT- PCR can be used to detect mutations m the RNA It is particularly prefened to use RT-PCR m conjunction with automated detection systems, such as. for example, GeneScan RNA. cDNA or genomic DNA may also be used for the same purpose. PCR As an example PCR primers complementary to a polynucleotide encoding 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptide can be used to identify and analyze mutations Examples of representative prrmers are shown below in Table 2 Table 2 Primers for amplification of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polynucleotides SEQ ID NO PRIMER SEQUENCE 3 5'-AAGCTAACTTTGGTGTC-3' 4 5 ' -GGATATAGACATCTACGA-3 ' The mvention also includes primers of the formula X-(R 1 ) m -(R 2 )-(R 3 ) n -Y - 18 - wherein, at the 5' end of the molecule, X is hydrogen, a metal or a modified nucleotide residue, and at the 3' end of the molecule, Y is hydrogen, a metal or a modified nucleotide residue, R\ and R3 are any nucleic acid residue or modified nucleotide residue, m is an mteger between 1 and 20 or zero n is an mteger between 1 and 20 or zero, and R 2 is a pnmer sequence of the invention, particularly a primer sequence selected from Table 2 In the polynucleotide formula above R 2 is onented so that its 5' end nucleotide residue is at the left, bound to R\ and its 3' end nucleotide residue is at the nght, bound to R3 Any stretch of nucleic acid residues denoted by either R group, where m and/or n is greater than 1, may be either a heteropolymer or a homopolymer, preferably a heteropolymer bemg complementary to a region of a polynucleotide of Table 1 In a prefened embodiment m and/or n is an mteger between 1 and 10. The mvention further provides these primers with 1. 2, 3 or 4 nucleotides removed from the 5' and/or the 3' end These primers may be used for among other things amplifying 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase DNA and/or RNA isolated from a sample denved from an individual, such as a bodih matenal The primers may be used to amplify a polynucleotide isolated from an infected individual, such that the polynucleotide may then be subject to vanous techmques for elucidation of the polynucleotide sequence In this way, mutations m the polynucleotide sequence may be detected and used to diagnose and/or prognose the infection or its stage or course, or to serotype and/or classify the infectious agent The mvention further provides a process for diagnosing, disease, preferably bacterial infections, more preferably infections caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae. compnsmg determmmg from a sample derived from an individual, such as a bodily material, an mcreased level of expression of polynucleotide havmg a sequence of Table 1 [SEQ ID NO 1] Increased or decreased expression of a 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polynucleotide can be measured usmg any on of the methods well known in the art for the quantitation of polynucleotides, such as, for example, amplification, PCR, RT-PCR, RNase protection, Northern blotting, spectrometry and other hybridization methods In addition, a diagnostic assay m accordance with the mvention for detecting over- expression of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptide compared to normal control tissue samples may be used to detect the presence of an infection, for example Assay techmques that can be used to determme levels of a 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptide. in a sample denved from a host, such as a bodily matenal. are well-known to those of skill m the art Such assay methods mclude radioimmunoassays. competitive-binding assays. Western Blot analysis, antibody sandwich assays, antibody detection and ELISA assays Differential Expression - 19 - The polynucleotides and polynucleotides of the mvention may be used as reagents for differential screenmg methods There are many differential screenmg and differential display methods known m the art m which the polynucleotides and polypeptides of the mvention may be used For example, the differential display technique is described by Chuang et al , J Bactenol 175 2026-2036 (1993) This method identifies those genes which are expressed in an organism by identifying mRNA present using randomly-primed RT-PCR By comparing pre-mfection and post infection profiles, genes up and down regulated durmg infection can be identified and the RT-PCR product sequenced and matched to ORF "unknowns " In Vivo Expression Technology (IVET) is described by Camilh et al Proc Nat'l Acad Sci USA 91 2634-2638 (1994) IVET identifies genes up-regulated dunng infection when compared to laboratory cultivation, implying an important role in infection ORFs identified by this technique are implied to have a significant role m infection establishment and/or maintenance In this technique random chromosomal fragments of target organism are cloned upstream of a promoter-less recombmase gene in a plasmid vector This construct is introduced into the target organism which cames an antibiotic resistance gene flanked by resolvase sites Growth m the presence of the antibiotic removes from the population those fragments cloned mto the plasmid vector capable of supporting transcnption of the recombmase gene and therefore have caused loss of antibiotic resistance The resistant pool is introduced mto a host and at vanous tunes after mfection bacteria may be recovered and assessed for the presence of antibiotic resistance The chromosomal fragment carried by each antibiotic sensitive bactenum should carry a promoter or portion of a gene normally upregulated dunng infection Sequencmg upstream of the recombmase gene allows identification of the up regulated gene RT-PCR may also be used to analyze gene expression patterns For RT PCR using the polynucleotides of the invention, messenger RNA is isolated from bactenal infected tissue, e g , 48 hour munne lung infections, and the amount of each mRNA species assessed by reverse transcnption of the RNA sample primed with random hexanucleotides followed by PCR with gene specific pnmer pairs The determination of the presence and amount of a particular mRNA species by quantification of the resultant PCR product provides information on the bactenal genes which are transcribed in the infected tissue Analysis of gene transcnption can be earned out at different times of infection to gam a detailed knowledge of gene regulation m bacterial pathogenesis allowing for a clearer understanding of which gene products represent targets for screens for antibactenals Because of the gene specific nature of the PCR primers employed it should be understood that the bacterial mRNA preparation need not be free of mammalian RNA This allows the investigator to carry out a simple and quick RNA preparation from infected - 20 - tissue to obtain bacterial mRNA species which are very short lived in the bacterium (in the order of 2 mmute half ves) Optimally the bacterial mRNA is prepared from infected munne lung tissue by mechanical disruption in the presence of TRIzole (GIBCO-BRL) for very short periods of time, subsequent processing accordmg to the manufacturers of TRIzole reagent and DNAase treatment to remove contaminating DNA Preferably the process is optimized by findmg those conditions which give a maximum amount of Streptococcus pneumoniae 16S πbosomal RNA as detected by probing Northerns with a suitably labeled sequence specific ohgonucleotide probe Typically a 5' dye labeled pnmer is used in each PCR pnmer pair in a PCR reaction which is terminated optimally between 8 and 25 cycles The PCR products are separated on 6% polyacrylamide gels with detection and quantification using GeneScanner (manufactured by ABI) Gridding and Polynucleotide Subtraction Methods have been described for obtaining information about gene expression and identity using so called "high density DNA anays" or gnds See, e g M Chee et al . Science. 274 610-614 (1996) and other references cited therein Such gridding assays have been employed to identify certam novel gene sequences, referred to as Expressed Sequence Tags (EST) (Adams et a , Science. 252 1651-1656 (1991)) A variety of techniques have also been descnbed for identifying particular gene sequences on the basis of their gene products For example, see International Patent Application No WO91/07087, published May 30, 1991 In addition, methods have been described for the amplification of desired sequences For example, see International Patent Application No W091/17271, published November 14, 1991 The polynucleotides of the invention may be used as components of polynucleotide anays, preferably high density arrays or grids These high density arrays are particularly useful for diagnostic and prognostic purposes For example, a set of spots each comprising a different gene, and further compnsmg a polynucleotide or polynucleotides of the invention, may be used for probing, such as using hybridization or nucleic acid amplification, usmg a probes obtamed or derived from a bodily sample, to determme the presence of a particular polynucleotide sequence or related sequence m an indπ ldual Such a presence may indicate the presence of a pathogen, particularly Streptococcus pneumonia . and ma> be useful in diagnosing and/or prognosing disease or a course of disease A grid comprising a number of variants of the polynucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO 1 are preferred Also preferred is a compnsmg a number of variants of a polynucleotide sequence encodmg the polypeptide sequence of SEQ ID NO 2 - 21 - Antibodies The polypeptides and polynucleotides of the mvention or vanants thereof, or cells expressmg the same can be used as immunogens to produce antibodies lmmunospecific for such polypeptides or polynucleotides respectively In certam prefened embodiments of the invention there are provided antibodies against 6- phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptides or polynucleotides Antibodies generated against the polypeptides or polynucleotides of the invention can be obtained by administering the polypeptides and/or polynucleotides of the mvention. or epitope-beanng fragments of either or both, analogues of either or both, or cells expressmg either or both, to an animal preferably a nonhuman. usmg routine protocols For preparation of monoclonal antibodies, any techmque known in the art that provides antibodies produced by contmuous cell hne cultures can be used Examples mclude vanous techmques, such as those in Kohler. G and Milstein. C , Nature 256 495-497 (1975), Kozbor et al , Immunology Today 4 72 (1983). Cole et al , pg 77-96 m MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES AND CANCER THERAPY, Alan R Liss, Inc (1985) Techmques for the production of smgle chain antibodies (U S Patent No 4,946.778) can be adapted to produce smgle chain antibodies to polypeptides or polynucleotides of this mvention Also, transgenic mice, or other organisms such as other mammals, may be used to express humanized antibodies lmmunospecific to the polypeptides or polynucleotides of the mvention Alternatively, phage display technology may be utilized to select antibody genes with bmdmg activities towards a polypeptide of the invention either from repertoires of PCR amplified v-genes of lymphocytes from humans screened for possessmg antι-6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase or from naive libraries (McCafferty, et al , (1990), Nature 348, 552-554, Marks. et al , (1992) Biotechnology 10. 779-783) The affinity of these antibodies can also be improved by, for example, chain shuffling (Clackson et al , (1991) Nature 352 628) The above-descnbed antibodies may be employed to isolate or to identify clones expressmg the polypeptides or polynucleotides of the mvention to purify the polypeptides or polynucleotides by, for example, affinity chromatography Thus, among others, antibodies against 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase-polypeptide or 6- phosphogluconate dehydrogenase-polynucleotide may be employed to treat infections, particularly bactenal infections Polypeptide vanants mclude antigenically, epitopically or lmmunologically equivalent variants form a particular aspect of this invention A polypeptide or polynucleotide of the invention, such as an antigenically or lmmunologically equivalent denvative or a fusion protem of the polypeptide is used as an antigen - 22 - to immunize a mouse or other animal such as a rat or chicken The fusion protem may provide stability to the polypeptide The antigen may be associated, for example by conjugation, with an lmmunogemc carrier protein for example bovine serum albumin, keyhole limpet haemocyanin or tetanus toxoid Alternatively, a multiple antigenic polypeptide comprising multiple copies of the polypeptide, or an antigenically or lmmunologically equivalent polypeptide thereof may be sufficiently antigemc to improve immunogenicity so as to obviate the use of a earner Preferably, the antibody or variant thereof is modified to make it less lmmunogemc in the individual For example, if the individual is human the antibody may most preferably be "humanized," where the complimentanty determining region or regions of the hybridoma-deπved antibody has been transplanted into a human monoclonal antibody, for example as described in Jones et al (1986). Nature 321, 522-525 or Tempest et al , (1991) Biotechnology 9, 266-273 In accordance with an aspect of the mvention, there is provided the use of a polynucleotide of the mvention for therapeutic or prophylactic purposes, in particular genetic immunization Among the particularly prefened embodiments of the mvention are naturally occurring allelic vanants of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polynucleotides and polypeptides encoded thereby The use of a polynucleotide of the mvention in genetic immunization will preferably employ a suitable delivery method such as direct injection of plasmid DNA mto muscles (Wolff et al , Hum Mol Genet (1992) 1 363, Manthorpe et al , Hum Gene Ther (1983) 4 419), delivery of DNA complexed with specific protem earners (Wu et al , J Biol Chem (1989) 264 16985), coprecipitation of DNA with calcium phosphate (Benvenisty & Reshef, PNAS USA, (1986) 83 9551), encapsulation of DNA in various forms of hposomes (Kaneda et al , Science (1989) 243 375), particle bombardment (Tang et al Nature (1992) 356 152. Eisenbraun et al DNA Cell Biol (1993) 12 791) and in vivo infection using cloned retroviral vectors (Seeger et al , PNAS USA (1984) 81 5849) Antagonists and Agonists - Assays and Molecules Polypeptides and polynucleotides of the mvention may also be used to assess the bmdmg of small molecule substrates and ligands m, for example, cells, cell-free preparations, chemical hbranes, and natural product mixtures These substrates and ligands may be natural substrates and ligands or may be structural or functional mimetics See, e g , Cohgan et al , Current Protocols in Immunology 1(2) Chapter 5 (1991) Polypeptides and polynucleotides of the present mvention are responsible for many biological functions, including many disease states, in particular the Diseases herembefore mentioned It is therefore desirable to devise screenmg methods to identify compounds which stimulate or which inhibit - 23 - the function of the polypeptide or polynucleotide Accordingly, in a further aspect, the present invention provides for a method of screenmg compounds to identify those which stimulate or which inhibit the function of a polypeptide or polynucleotide of the mvention, as well as related polypeptides and polynucleotides In general, agonists or antagonists may be employed for therapeutic and prophylactic purposes for such Diseases as herembefore mentioned Compounds may be identified from a vanety of sources, for example, cells, cell-free preparations, chemical branes, and natural product mixtures Such agonists, antagonists or inhibitors so-identified may be natural or modified substrates, ligands, receptors, enzymes, etc , as the case may be, of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptides and polynucleotides, or may be structural or functional mimetics thereof (see Cohgan et al . Current Protocols in Immunology 1(2) Chapter 5 (1991)) The screenmg methods may simply measure the bmdmg of a candidate compound to the polypeptide or polynucleotide, or to cells or membranes bearing the polypeptide or polynucleotide, or a fusion protem of the polypeptide by means of a label directly or indirectly associated with the candidate compound Alternatively, the screening method may involve competition with a labeled competitor Further, these screenmg methods may test whether the candidate compound results m a signal generated by activation or inhibition of the polypeptide or polynucleotide, usmg detection systems appropriate to the cells comprising the polypeptide or polynucleotide Inhibitors of activation are generally assayed m the presence of a known agonist and the effect on activation by the agomst by the presence of the candidate compound is observed Constitutively active polypeptide and/or constitutively expressed polypeptides and polynucleotides may be employed in screening methods for inverse agonists or inhibitors, m the absence of an agonist or inhibitor, by testing whether the candidate compound results in inhibition of activation of the polypeptide or polynucleotide, as the case may be Further, the screening methods may simply compnse the steps of mixing a candidate compound with a solution contammg a polypeptide or polynucleotide of the present mvention, to form a mixture, measuring 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptide and/or polynucleotide activity m the mixture, and comparing the 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptide and/or polynucleotide activity of the mixture to a standard Fusion proteins, such as those made from Fc portion and 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptide, as hereinbefore described, can also be used for high-throughput screenmg assays to identify antagonists of the polypeptide of the present mvention. as well as of phylogenetically and and/or functionally related polypeptides (see D Bennett et al , J Mol Recognition, 8 52-58 (1995) and K Johanson et al J Biol Chem 270(16) 9459-9471 (1995)) - 24 The polynucleotides, polypeptides and antibodies that bind to and/or interact with a polypeptide of the present invention may also be used to configure screenmg methods for detectmg the effect of added compounds on the production of mRNA and/or polypeptide m cells For example, an ELISA assay may be constructed for measuring secreted or cell associated levels of polypeptide usmg monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies by standard methods known m the art This can be used to discover agents which may inhibit or enhance the production of polypeptide (also called antagonist or agonist, respectively) from suitably manipulated cells or tissues The mvention also provides a method of screenmg compounds to identify those which enhance (agonist) or block (antagonist) the action of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptides or polynucleotides, particularly those compounds that are bactenostatic and/or bactenocidal The method of screening may involve high-throughput techmques For example, to screen for agomsts or antagonists, a synthetic reaction mix, a cellular compartment, such as a membrane, cell envelope or cell wall, or a preparation of any thereof, compnsmg 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptide and a labeled substrate or hgand of such polypeptide is incubated in the absence or the presence of a candidate molecule that may be a 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase agonist or antagonist The ability of the candidate molecule to agonize or antagonize the 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptide is reflected in decreased binding of the labeled gand or decreased production of product from such substrate Molecules that bmd gratuitously, i e , without inducing the effects of 6- phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptide are most likely to be good antagonists Molecules that bmd well and, as the case may be, mcrease the rate of product production from substrate, mcrease signal transduction, or increase chemical channel activity are agomsts Detection of the rate or level of, as the case may be, production of product from substrate, signal transduction. or chemical channel activity may be enhanced by usmg a reporter system Reporter systems that may be useful in this regard mclude but are not limited to colonmetnc, labeled substrate converted mto product, a reporter gene that is responsive to changes in 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polynucleotide or polypeptide activity, and bmdmg assays known m the art Polypeptides of the invention may be used to identify membrane bound or soluble receptors, if any, for such polypeptide, through standard receptor binding techniques known in the art These techmques mclude. but are not limited to, hgand binding and crosslmking assays m which the polypeptide is labeled with a radioactive isotope (for instance. ^^1), chemically modified (for instance, biotmylated), or fused to a peptide sequence suitable for detection or punfication, and mcubated with a source of the putative receptor (e g , cells, cell membranes, cell supernatants. tissue extracts, bodily materials) Other methods mclude biophysical techmques such as surface plasmon resonance and spectroscopy These screening methods may also be used - 25 - to identify agonists and antagonists of the polypeptide which compete with the binding of the polypeptide to its receptor(s), if any Standard methods for conducting such assays are well understood in the art In other embodiments of the mvention there are provided methods for identifying compounds which bmd to or otherwise mteract with and inhibit or activate an activity or expression of a polypeptide and/or polynucleotide of the mvention compnsing contacting a polypeptide and/or polynucleotide of the mvention with a compound to be screened under conditions to permit bmdmg to or other interaction between the compound and the polypeptide and/or polynucleotide to assess the bmdmg to or other mteraction with the compound, such bmdmg or interaction preferably bemg associated with a second component capable of providmg a detectable signal m response to the bmdmg or interaction of the polypeptide and/or polynucleotide with the compound, and determining whether the compound binds to or otherwise interacts with and activates or inhibits an activity or expression of the polypeptide and/or polynucleotide by detecting the presence or absence of a signal generated from the bmdmg or mteraction of the compound with the polypeptide and/or polynucleotide Another example of an assay for 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase agomsts is a competitive assay that combmes 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase and a potential agomst with 6- phosphogluconate dehydrogenase-binding molecules, recombinant 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase bmdmg molecules, natural substrates or ligands, or substrate or hgand mimetics, under appropnate conditions for a competitive inhibition assay The 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase moelcule can be labeled, such as by radioactivity or a colonmetnc compound, such that the number of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase molecules bound to a bmdmg molecule or converted to product can be determined accurately to assess the effectiveness of the potential antagonist Potential antagomsts mclude. among others, small orgamc molecules, peptides, polypeptides and antibodies that bmd to a polynucleotide and or polypeptide of the mvention and thereby inhibit or extinguish its activity or expression Potential antagomsts also may be small orgamc molecules, a peptide. a polypeptide such as a closely related protem or antibody that bmds the same sites on a bmdmg molecule, such as a bmdmg molecule, without mducmg 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase- lnduced activities, thereby preventmg the action or expression of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptides and/or polynucleotides by excluding 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptides andor polynucleotides from bmdmg Potential antagomsts mclude a small molecule that b ds to and occupies the bmdmg site of the polypeptide thereby preventing bmdmg to cellular binding molecules, such that normal biological acuvιt\ is prevented Examples of small molecules mclude but are not limited to small orgamc molecules, peptides or peptide-like molecules Other potential antagomsts mclude antisense molecules - 26 - (see Okano. J Neurochem 56 560 (1991), OUGODEOXYNUCLEOTIDES AS ANTISENSE INHIBITORS OF GENE EXPRESSION, CRC Press, Boca Raton. FL (1988). for a descnption of these molecules) Prefened potential antagomsts mclude compounds related to and vanants of 6- phosphogluconate dehydrogenase Other examples of potential polypeptide antagomsts mclude antibodies or, m some cases, oligonucleotides or protems which are closely related to the ligands. substrates, receptors, enzymes, etc , as the case may be, of the polypeptide. e g , a fragment of the ligands, substrates, receptors, enzymes, etc , or small molecules which bind to the polypeptide of the present mvention but do not elicit a response, so that the activity of the polypeptide is prevented Certain of the polypeptides of the mvention are biomimetics. functional mimetics of the natural 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptide These functional mimetics may be used for, among other things, antagonizing the activity of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptide or as a antigen or lmmunogen m a manner descnbed elsewhere herem Functional mimetics of the polypeptides of the mvention mclude but are not limited to truncated polypeptides For example, prefened functional mimetics mclude, a polypeptide compnsmg the polypeptide sequence set forth m SEQ ID NO 2 lacking 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 or 80 ammo- or carboxy-terminal ammo acid residues, including fusion proteins compnsmg one or more of these truncated sequences Polynucleotides encodmg each of these functional mimetics may be used as expression cassettes to express each mimetic polypeptide It is prefened that these cassettes compnse 5 ' and 3 ' restnction sites to allow for a convenient means to hgate the cassettes together when desired It is further prefened that these cassettes compnse gene expression signals known m the art or descnbed elsewhere herem Thus, m another aspect, the present invention relates to a screening kit for identifying agomsts, antagomsts, ligands, receptors, substrates, enzymes, etc for a polypeptide and/or polynucleotide of the present invention, or compounds which decrease or enhance the production of such polypeptides and/or polynucleotides , which comprises (a) a polypeptide and/or a polynucleotide of the present invention. (b) a recombinant cell expressing a polypeptide and/or polynucleotide of the present invention (c) a cell membrane expressmg a polypeptide and/or polynucleotide of the present invention, or (d) antibody to a polypeptide and/or polynucleotide of the present invention, which polypeptide is preferably that of SEQ ID NO 2, and which polynucleotide is preferably that of SEQ ID NO 1 It will be appreciated that in any such kit, (a), (b), (c) or (d) may comprise a substantial component 27 It will be readily appreciated by the skilled artisan that a polypeptide and or polynucleotide of the present invention may also be used in a method for the structure-based design of an agomst. antagonist or inhibitor of the polypeptide and/or polynucleotide, by (a) determining in the first instance the three-dimensional structure of the polypeptide and/or polynucleotide, or complexes thereof, (b) deducmg the three-dimensional structure for the likely reactive sιte(s), binding sιte(s) or motifts) of an agomst. antagonist or inhibitor. (c) synthesizing candidate compounds that are predicted to bind to or react with the deduced binding sιte(s), reactive sιte(s), and/or motifrs), and (d) testmg whether the candidate compounds are mdeed agonists, antagomsts or inhibitors It will be further appreciated that this will normally be an iterative process, and this iterative process may be performed usmg automated and computer-controlled steps In a further aspect, the present mvention provides methods of treatmg abnormal conditions such as, for instance, a Disease, related to either an excess of. an under-expression of. an elevated activity of, or a decreased activity of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptide and/or polynucleotide If the expression and/or activity of the polypeptide and/or polynucleotide is m excess, several approaches are available One approach compnses administering to an individual m need thereof an inhibitor compound (antagonist) as herein descnbed, optionally m combmation with a pharmaceutically acceptable earner, in an amount effective to inhibit the function and/or expression of the polypeptide and/or polynucleotide, such as, for example, by blocking the bmdmg of ligands, substrates, receptors, enzymes, etc , or by inhibiting a second signal, and thereby alleviating the abnormal condition In another approach, soluble forms of the polypeptides still capable of bmdmg the hgand, substrate, enzymes, receptors, etc m competition with endogenous polypeptide and/or polynucleotide may be admmistered Typical examples of such competitors mclude fragments of the 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptide and/or polypeptide In a further aspect, the present invention relates to genetically engineered soluble fusion protems comprising a polypeptide of the present invention, or a fragment thereof, and various portions of the constant regions of heavy or light chams of lmmunoglobuhns of various subclasses (IgG, IgM, IgA, IgE) Preferred as an immunoglobulm is the constant part of the heavy cham of human IgG, particularly IgGl where fusion takes place at the hinge region In a particular embodiment, the Fc part can be removed simply by incorporation of a cleavage sequence which can be cleaved with blood clotting factor Xa Furthermore, this mvention relates to processes for the preparation of these fusion protems by genetic engineering, and to the use - 28 - thereof for drug screening, diagnosis and therapy A further aspect of the mvention also relates to polynucleotides encoding such fusion protems Examples of fusion protem technology can be found in International Patent Application Nos W094/29458 and W094/22914 In still another approach, expression of the gene encodmg endogenous 6- phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptide can be inhibited using expression blocking techmques This blocking may be targeted against any step in gene expression, but is preferably targeted against transcription and/or translation An examples of a known techmque of this sort mvolve the use of antisense sequences, either internally generated or separately administered (see. for example, O'Connor, J Neurochem (1991) 56 560 in Ohgodeoxynucleotides as Antisense Inhibitors of Gene Expression, CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL (1988)) Alternatively, ohgonucleotides which form triple helices with the gene can be supplied (see. for example, Lee et al , Nucleic Acids Res (1979) 6 3073. Cooney et al , Science (1988) 241 456, Dervan et al Science (1991) 251 1360) These ohgomers can be administered per se or the relevant ohgomers can be expressed in vivo Each of the polynucleotide sequences provided herem may be used in the discovery and development of antibacterial compounds The encoded protem, upon expression, can be used as a target for the screenmg of antibacterial drugs Additionally, the polynucleotide sequences encodmg the ammo terminal regions of the encoded protem or Shine-Delgarno or other translation facilitating sequences of the respective mRNA can be used to construct antisense sequences to control the expression of the codmg sequence of interest The mvention also provides the use of the polypeptide, polynucleotide, agonist or antagomst of the invention to mterfere with the initial physical mteraction between a pathogen or pathogens and a eukaryotic, preferably mammalian, host responsible for sequelae of infection In particular, the molecules of the invention may be used in the prevention of adhesion of bacteria, in particular gram positive and/or gram negative bacteria, to eukaryotic, preferably mammalian, extracellular matrix protems on in-dwelling devices or to extracellular matrix protems m wounds, to block 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase protem-mediated mammalian cell mvasion by, for example, initiating phosphorylation of mammalian tyrosme kmases (Rosenshme et al , Infect Immun 60 2211 (1992), to block bacterial adhesion between eukaryotic. preferably mammalian, extracellular matrix proteins and bacterial 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase proteins that mediate tissue damage and/or, to block the normal progression of pathogenesis in infections initiated other than by the implantation of in-dwelling devices or by other surgical techmques 29 In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, there are provided 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase agomsts and antagomsts, preferably bactenostatic or bactenocidal agomsts and antagomsts The antagomsts and agomsts of the invention may be employed, for instance, to prevent. inhibit and/or treat diseases Hehcobacter pylori (herein "H pylori") bacteria mfect the stomachs of over one-third of the world's population causmg stomach cancer, ulcers, and gastritis (International Agency for Research on Cancer (1994) Schistosomes, Liver Flukes and Hehcobacter Pylori (International Agency for Research on Cancer, Lyon, France, http //www uicc ch/ecp/ecp2904 htm) Moreover, the International Agency for Research on Cancer recently recognized a cause-and- effect relationship between H pylori and gastric adenocarcinoma. classifying the bacterium as a Group I (definite) carcinogen Preferred antimicrobial compounds of the invention (agonists and antagonists of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptides and/or polynucleotides) found using screens provided by the invention, or known m the art, particularly nanow-spectrum antibiotics, should be useful m the treatment of H pylori infection Such treatment should decrease the advent of H v/øπ-induced cancers, such as gastrointestinal carcinoma Such treatment should also prevent, inhibit and/or cure gastric ulcers and gastntis Vaccines There are provided by the mvention, products, compositions and methods for assessmg 6- phosphogluconate dehydrogenase expression, treating disease, assaymg genetic vanation, and administering a 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptide and/or polynucleotide to an organism to raise an lmmunological response against a bactena, especially a Streptococcus pneumoniae bactena Another aspect of the invention relates to a method for inducing an lmmunological response in an individual, particularly a mammal which comprises inoculating the mdividual with 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polynucleotide and/or polypeptide, or a fragment or vanant thereof, adequate to produce antibody and/ or T cell immune response to protect said individual from infection, particularly bacterial infection and most particularly Streptococcus pneumoniae infection Also provided are methods whereby such lmmunological response slows bacterial replication Yet another aspect of the invention relates to a method of inducing lmmunological response in an individual which compnses delivering to such individual a nucleic acid vector, sequence or nbozyme to direct expression of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polynucleotide and/or polypeptide. or a fragment or a variant thereof, for expressmg 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polynucleotide and/or polypeptide, or a fragment or a vanant thereof in vivo m - 30 - order to induce an lmmunological response, such as, to produce antibody and/ or T cell immune response, including, for example, cytokine-producing T cells or cytotoxic T cells, to protect said individual, preferably a human, from disease, whether that disease is already established within the individual or not One example of administering the gene is by accelerating it into the desired cells as a coating on particles or otherwise Such nucleic acid vector may comprise DNA. RNA, a πbozyme, a modified nucleic acid, a DNA RNA hybrid, a DNA-protein complex or an RNA- protem complex A further aspect of the invention relates to an lmmunological composition that when introduced mto an individual, preferably a human, capable of having induced within it an lmmunological response, induces an lmmunological response in such individual to a 6- phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polynucleotide and/or polypeptide encoded therefrom, wherein the composition comprises a recombinant 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polynucleotide and or polypeptide encoded therefrom and/or comprises DNA and/or RNA which encodes and expresses an antigen of said 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polynucleotide, polypeptide encoded therefrom, or other polypeptide of the mvention The lmmunological response may be used therapeutically or prophylactically and may take the form of antibody immunity and/or cellular immunity, such as cellular immunity arising from CTL or CD4+ T cells A 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptide or a fragment thereof may be fused with co-protein or chemical moiety which may or may not by itself produce antibodies but which is capable of stabilizmg the first protein and producing a fused or modified protein which will have antigenic and/or lmmunogemc properties, and preferably protective properties Thus fused recombinant protem, preferably further comprises an antigenic co-protem, such as hpoprotem D from Hemophilus mfluenzae, Glutathione-S-transferase (GST) or beta-galactosidase or any other relatively large co-protein which solubihzes the protein and facilitates production and purification thereof Moreover, the co-protem may act as an adjuvant m the sense of providing a generalized stimulation of the immune system of the organism receiving the protem The co- protem may be attached to either the ammo- or carboxy-terminus of the first protem Provided by this invention are compositions, particularly vaccme compositions, and methods comprising the polypeptides and/or polynucleotides of the mvention and lmmunostimulatory DNA sequences, such as those described in Sato. Y et al Science 273 352 (1996) Also, provided by this mvention are methods usmg the described polynucleotide or particular fragments thereof, which have been shown to encode non-variable regions of bacterial cell surface protems. in polynucleotide constructs used in such genetic immunization experiments - 31 - in animal models of infection with Streptococcus pneumoniae Such experiments will be particularly useful for identifying protein epitopes able to provoke a prophylactic or therapeutic immune response It is believed that this approach will allow for the subsequent preparation of monoclonal antibodies of particular value, derived from the requisite organ of the animal successfully resistmg or clearing infection, for the development of prophylactic agents or therapeutic treatments of bacterial infection, particularly Streptococcus pneumoniae infection, in mammals, particularly humans A polypeptide of the mvention may be used as an antigen for vaccination of a host to produce specific antibodies which protect against invasion of bacteria, for example by blocking adherence of bacteria to damaged tissue Examples of tissue damage include wounds in skin or connective tissue caused, for example, by mechanical, chemical, thermal or radiation damage or by implantation of indwelling devices, or wounds in the mucous membranes, such as the mouth, throat, mammary glands, urethra or vagina The invention also includes a vaccine formulation which comprises an lmmunogemc recombmant polypeptide and/or polynucleotide of the invention together with a suitable carrier, such as a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier Since the polypeptides and polynucleotides may be broken down m the stomach, each is preferably admmistered parenterally. including, for example, administration that is subcutaneous, mtramuscular, intravenous, or mtradermal Formulations suitable for parenteral administration mclude aqueous and non-aqueous sterile mjection solutions which may contain anti-oxidants. buffers, bactenostatic compounds and solutes which render the formulation lsotomc with the bodily fluid, preferably the blood, of the individual, and aqueous and non-aqueous stenle suspensions which may include suspending agents or thickening agents The formulations may be presented m unit-dose or multi-dose containers, for example, sealed ampoules and vials and may be stored m a freeze-dned condition requirmg only the addition of the stenle liquid earner immediately prior to use The vaccine formulation may also mclude adjuvant systems for enhancing the lmmunogenicity of the formulation, such as oil-in water systems and other systems known m the art The dosage will depend on the specific activity of the vaccine and can be readily determined by routine experimentation While the mvention has been described with reference to certam 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptides and polynucleotides, it is to be understood that this covers fragments of the naturally occunmg polypeptides and polynucleotides, and similar polypeptides and polynucleotides with additions, deletions or substitutions which do not substantially affect the immunogenic properties of the recombinant polypeptides or polynucleotides - 32 - Compositions, kits and administration In a further aspect of the mvention there are provided compositions compnsmg a 6- phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polynucleotide and/or a 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase polypeptide for administration to a cell or to a multicellular organism The mvention also relates to compositions compnsing a polynucleotide and/or a polypeptides discussed herem or their agomsts or antagomsts The polypeptides and polynucleotides of the mvention may be employed m combination with a non-stenle or stenle earner or earners for use with cells, tissues or orgamsms, such as a pharmaceutical earner suitable for administration to an mdividual Such compositions compnse, for instance, a media additive or a therapeutically effective amount of a polypeptide and/or polynucleotide of the mvention and a pharmaceutically acceptable earner or excipient Such earners may mclude, but are not limited to, saline, buffered saline, dextrose, water, glycerol, ethanol and combinations thereof The formulation should suit the mode of administration The mvention further relates to diagnostic and pharmaceutical packs and kits compnsmg one or more containers filled with one or more of the ingredients of the aforementioned compositions of the mvention Polypeptides, polynucleotides and other compounds of the mvention may be employed alone or in conjunction with other compounds, such as therapeutic compounds The pharmaceutical compositions may be administered in any effective, convement manner including, for instance, administration by topical, oral, anal, vaginal, mtravenous. lntrapentoneal, mtramuscular, subcutaneous, lntranasal or mtradermal routes among others In therapy or as a prophylactic, the active agent may be administered to an mdividual as an mjectable composition, for example as a sterile aqueous dispersion, preferably lsotomc Alternatively the composition may be formulated for topical application for example in the form of ointments, creams, lotions, eye ointments, eye drops, ear drops, mouthwash, impregnated dressmgs and sutures and aerosols, and may contam appropnate conventional additives, mcludmg, for example, preservatives, solvents to assist drug penetration, and emollients m ointments and creams Such topical formulations may also contam compatible conventional earners, for example cream or ointment bases, and ethanol or oleyl alcohol for lotions Such earners may constitute from about 1% to about 98% by weight of the formulation, more usually they will constitute up to about 80% by weight of the formulation In a further aspect, the present mvention provides for pharmaceutical compositions compnsmg a therapeutically effective amount of a polypeptide and/or polynucleotide, such as the soluble form of a polypeptide and/or polynucleotide of the present mvention, agomst or antagomst peptide or small molecule compound, m combmation with a pharmaceutically acceptable earner or excipient Such - 33 - earners mclude, but are not limited to. saline, buffered saline, dextrose, water, glycerol, ethanol, and combinations thereof The mvention further relates to pharmaceutical packs and kits compnsmg one or more containers filled with one or more of the ingredients of the aforementioned compositions of the mvention Polypeptides, polynucleotides and other compounds of the present mvention may be employed alone or in conjunction with other compounds, such as therapeutic compounds The composition will be adapted to the route of admmistration, for instance by a systemic or an oral route Prefened forms of systemic administration mclude mjection. typically by mtravenous mjection Other mjection routes, such as subcutaneous, mtramuscular, or mtrapentoneal, can be used Alternative means for systemic admmistration mclude transmucosal and transdermal admmistration usmg penetrants such as bile salts or fusidic acids or other detergents In addition, if a polypeptide or other compounds of the present mvention can be formulated in an entenc or an encapsulated formulation, oral admmistration may also be possible Administration of these compounds may also be topical and/or localized, m the form of salves, pastes, gels, and the like For administration to mammals, and particularly humans, it is expected that the daily dosage level of the active agent will be from 0 01 mg kg to 10 mg/kg, typically around 1 mg/kg The physician m any event will determme the actual dosage which will be most suitable for an individual and will vary with the age, weight and response of the particular mdividual The above dosages are exemplary of the average case There can, of course, be mdividual instances where higher or lower dosage ranges are merited, and such are withm the scope of this invention In-dwellmg devices mclude surgical implants, prosthetic devices and catheters, l e , devices that are mtroduced to the body of an individual and remain in position for an extended time Such devices mclude, for example, artificial joints, heart valves, pacemakers, vascular grafts, vascular catheters, cerebrospmal fluid shunts, unnary catheters, continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) catheters The composition of the mvention may be administered by injection to achieve a systemic effect against relevant bacteria shortly before insertion of an m-dwellmg device Treatment may be contmued after surgery durmg the m-body time of the device In addition, the composition could also be used to broaden perioperative cover for any surgical technique to prevent bacterial wound infections, especially Streptococcus pneumoniae wound infections Many orthopedic surgeons consider that humans with prosthetic jomts should be considered for antibiotic prophylaxis before dental treatment that could produce a bacteremia Late deep infection is a senous complication sometimes leadmg to loss of the prosthetic jomt and is accompanied by significant morbidity and mortality It may therefore be possible to extend the use of the active agent as a replacement for prophylactic antibiotics in this situation - 34 - In addition to the therapy described above, the compositions of this mvention may be used generally as a wound treatment agent to prevent adhesion of bacteria to matrix proteins exposed m wound tissue and for prophylactic use in dental treatment as an alternative to, or in conjunction with, antibiotic prophylaxis Alternatively, the composition of the invention may be used to bathe an indwelling device immediately before insertion The active agent will preferably be present at a concentration of 1 μg/ml to 1 Omg/ml for bathing of wounds or indwelling devices A vaccine composition is conveniently m injectable form Conventional adjuvants may be employed to enhance the immune response A suitable unit dose for vaccination is 0 5-5 microgram/kg of antigen, and such dose is preferably administered 1-3 times and with an mterval of 1-3 weeks With the indicated dose range, no adverse toxicological effects will be observed with the compounds of the invention which would preclude their administration to suitable individuals Sequence Databases, Sequences in a Tangible Medium, and Algorithms Polynucleotide and polypeptide sequences form a valuable information resource with which to determme their 2- and 3-dιmensιonal structures as well as to identify further sequences of similar homology These approaches are most easily facilitated by storing the sequence m a computer readable medium and then using the stored data m a known macromolecular structure program or to search a sequence database usmg well known searching tools, such as GCC The polynucleotide and polypeptide sequences of the invention are particularly useful as components m databases useful for search analyses as well as m sequence analysis algonthms As used in this section entitled "Sequence Databases. Sequences in a Tangible Medium, and Algonthms." and m claims related to this section, the terms "polynucleotide of the mvention" and "polynucleotide sequence of the invention" mean any detectable chemical or physical charactenstic of a polynucleotide of the invention that is or may be reduced to or stored in a tangible medium, preferably a computer readable form For example, chromatographic scan data or peak data, photographic data or scan data therefrom, called bases, and mass spectrographic data As used in this section entitled Databases and Algorithms and in claims related thereto, the terms "polypeptide of the invention" and "polypeptide sequence of the invention" mean any detectable chemical or physical characteristic of a polypeptide of the mvention that is or may be reduced to or stored m a tangible medium, preferably a computer readable form For example, chromatographic scan data or peak data, photographic data or scan data therefrom, and mass spectrographic data 35 The mvention provides a computer readable medium having stored thereon polypeptide sequences of the invention and/or polynucleotide sequences of the invention For example, a computer readable medium is provided compnsmg and having stored thereon a member selected from the group consisting of a polynucleotide comprising the sequence of a polynucleotide of the mvention, a polypeptide comprising the sequence of a polypeptide sequence of the invention, a set of polynucleotide sequences wherein at least one of the sequences comprises the sequence of a polynucleotide sequence of the invention, a set of polypeptide sequences wherein at least one of the sequences comprises the sequence of a polypeptide sequence of the invention, a data set representing a polynucleotide sequence compnsmg the sequence of polynucleotide sequence of the invention, a data set representing a polynucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide sequence comprising the sequence of a polypeptide sequence of the invention, a polynucleotide comprising the sequence of a polynucleotide sequence of the invention, a polypeptide comprising the sequence of a polypeptide sequence of the mvention, a set of polynucleotide sequences wherein at least one of the sequences comprises the sequence of a polynucleotide sequence of the invention, a set of polypeptide sequences wherein at least one of said sequences compnses the sequence of a polypeptide sequence of the mvention, a data set representing a polynucleotide sequence compnsmg the sequence of a polynucleotide sequence of the invention, a data set representmg a polynucleotide sequence encodmg a polypeptide sequence comprising the sequence of a polypeptide sequence of the invention The computer readable medium can be any composition of matter used to store information or data, mcludmg, for example, commercially available floppy disks, tapes, chips, hard dnves, compact disks, and video disks Also provided by the invention are methods for the analysis of character sequences or strings, particularly genetic sequences or encoded genetic sequences Preferred methods of sequence analysis mclude, for example, methods of sequence homology analysis, such as identity and similanty analysis, RNA structure analysis, sequence assembly, cladistic analysis, sequence motif analysis, open readmg frame determination, nucleic acid base calling, nucleic acid base tnmnung, and sequencmg chromatogram peak analysis A computer based method is provided for performing homology identification This method comprises the steps of providing a polynucleotide sequence compnsmg the sequence a polynucleotide of the mvention in a computer readable medium, and comparing said polynucleotide sequence to at least one polynucleotide or polypeptide sequence to identify homology A computer based method is also provided for performing homology identification, said method compnsmg the steps of providmg a polypeptide sequence compnsmg the sequence of a - 36 - polypeptide of the invention m a computer readable medium, and comparing said polypeptide sequence to at least one polynucleotide or polypeptide sequence to identify homology A computer based method is still further provided for polynucleotide assembly, said method comprising the steps of providing a first polynucleotide sequence comprising the sequence of a polynucleotide of the invention in a computer readable medium, and screening for at least one overlapping region between said first polynucleotide sequence and a second polynucleotide sequence A further embodiment of the invention provides a computer based method for performing homology identification, said method compnsmg the steps of providing a polynucleotide sequence comprising the sequence of a polynucleotide of the mvention m a computer readable medium, and companng said polynucleotide sequence to at least one polynucleotide or polypeptide sequence to identify homology A further embodiment of the mvention provides a computer based method for performing homology identification, said method comprising the steps of providing a polypeptide sequence compnsmg the sequence of a polypeptide of the invention m a computer readable medium, and companng said polypeptide sequence to at least one polynucleotide or polypeptide sequence to identify homology A further embodiment of the mvention provides a computer based method for polynucleotide assembly, said method comprising the steps of providmg a first polynucleotide sequence compnsing the sequence of a polynucleotide of the mvention m a computer readable medium, and screemng for at least one overlappmg region between said first polynucleotide sequence and a second polynucleotide sequence In another prefened embodiment of the mvention there is provided a computer readable medium having stored thereon a member selected from the group consistmg of a polynucleotide compnsmg the sequence of SEQ ID NO 1. a polypeptide compnsmg the sequence of SEQ ID NO 2. a set of polynucleotide sequences wherein at least one of said sequences compnses the sequence of SEQ ID NO 1, a set of polypeptide sequences wherem at least one of said sequences compnses the sequence of SEQ ID NO 2. a data set representing a polynucleotide sequence compnsmg the sequence of SEQ ID NO 1. a data set representing a polynucleotide sequence encodmg a polypeptide sequence comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO 2, a polynucleotide compnsmg the sequence of SEQ ID NO 1. a polypeptide compnsmg the sequence of SEQ ID NO 2. a set of polynucleotide sequences wherein at least one of said sequences comprises the sequence of SEQ ID NO 1 , a set of polypeptide sequences wherem at least one of said sequences compnses the sequence of SEQ ID NO 2. a data set representmg a polynucleotide sequence - 37 - comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO 1 , a data set representing a polynucleotide sequence encodmg a polypeptide sequence comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO 2 A further prefened embodiment of the mvention provides a computer based method for performing homology identification, said method comprising the steps of providing a polvnucleotide sequence comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO 1 in a computer readable medium, and comparing said polynucleotide sequence to at least one polynucleotide or polypeptide sequence to identify homology A still further preferred embodiment of the invention provides a computer based method for performing homology identification, said method comprising the steps of providing a polypeptide sequence comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO 2 in a computer readable medium and comparing said polypeptide sequence to at least one polynucleotide or polypeptide sequence to identify homology A further embodiment of the mvention provides a computer based method for polynucleotide assembly, said method compnsmg the steps of providmg a first polynucleotide sequence compnsmg the sequence of SEQ ID NO 1 m a computer readable medium, and screenmg for at least one overlapping region between said first polynucleotide sequence and a second polynucleotide sequence A further embodiment of the invention provides a computer based method for performing homology identification, said method comprising the steps of providing a polynucleotide sequence compnsmg the sequence of SEQ ID NO 1 m a computer readable medium, and companng said polynucleotide sequence to at least one polynucleotide or polypeptide sequence to identify homology A further embodiment of the invention provides a computer based method for performing homology identification, said method comprising the steps of providing a polypeptide sequence compnsing the sequence of SEQ ID NO 2 m a computer readable medium, and comparing said polypeptide sequence to at least one polynucleotide or polypeptide sequence to identify homology A further embodiment of the invention provides a computer based method for polynucleotide assembly, said method compnsmg the steps of providmg a first polynucleotide sequence comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO 1 m a computer readable medium, and screemng for at least one overlappmg region between said first polynucleotide sequence and a second polynucleotide sequence All publications and references, mcludmg but not limited to patents and patent applications, cited in this specification are herem incorporated by reference in their entirety as if each mdividual publication or reference were specifically and individually indicated to be - 38 - incorporated by reference herein as being fully set forth Any patent application to which this application claims priority is also incorporated by reference herein in its entiretv in the manner described above for publications and references GLOSSARY The following definitions are provided to facilitate understanding of certam terms used frequently herem "Antιbody(ιes)" as used herein includes polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies, chimeπc, smgle cham, and humanized antibodies, as well as Fab fragments, including the products of an Fab or other immunoglobulin expression library "Antigenically equivalent deπvatιve(s)" as used herein encompasses a polypeptide, polynucleotide, or the equivalent of either which will be specifically recognized by certain antibodies which, when raised to the prote , polypeptide or polynucleotide accordmg to the invention, interferes with the immediate physical interaction between pathogen and mammalian host "Bispecific antιbody(ιes)" means an antibody compnsmg at least two antigen bmdmg domams, each domain directed against a different epitope "Bodily matenal(s) means any matenal denved from an mdividual or from an organism infecting, infesting or inhabiting an mdividual, mcludmg but not limited to, cells, tissues and waste, such as, bone, blood, serum, cerebrospmal fluid, semen, sahva, muscle, cartilage, organ tissue, skin, urine, stool or autopsy matenals "Dιsease(s)" means any disease caused by or related to infection by a bactena. mcludmg . for example, otitis media, conjunctivitis, pneumonia, bacteremia, meningitis, sinusitis, pleural empyema and endocarditis, and most particularly meningitis, such as for example infection of cerebrospmal fluid "Fusion protern(s)" refers to a protem encoded by two, often unrelated, fused genes or fragments thereof In one example, EP-A-0464 discloses fusion protems compnsmg vanous portions of constant region of immunoglobulm molecules together with another human protein or part thereof In many cases, employing an immunoglobulm Fc region as a part of a fusion protem is advantageous for use m therapy and diagnosis resulting m, for example, improved pharmacokmetic properties [see, e g , EP-A 0232262] On the other hand, for some uses it would be desirable to be able to delete the Fc part after the fusion protem has been expressed, detected and purified "Host cell(s)" is a cell which has been transformed or transfected. or is capable of transformation or transfection by an exogenous polynucleotide sequence - 39 - "Identity," as known in the art, is a relationship between two or more polypeptide sequences or two or more polynucleotide sequences, as the case may be. as determined by companng the sequences In the art, "identity" also means the degree of sequence relatedness between polypeptide or polynucleotide sequences, as the case may be. as determined by the match between strings of such sequences "Identity" can be readily calculated by known methods, including but not limited to those descnbed m (Computational Molecular Biology, Lesk, A M , ed . Oxford University Press, New York, 1988, Biocomputing Informatics and Genome Projects, Smith, D W , ed , Academic Press, New York, 1993, Computer Analysis of Sequence Data. Part I, Griffin, A M , and Gnffin, H G , eds , Humana Press, New Jersey, 1994, Sequence Analysis in Molecular Biology, von Heinje, G , Academic Press, 1987, and Sequence Analysis Primer, Gnbskov, M and Devereux, J , eds , M Stockton Press, New York. 1 91, and Carillo, H , and Lipman, D , SIAM J Applied Math , 48 1073 (1988) Methods to determine identity are designed to give the largest match between the sequences tested Moreover, methods to determme identity are codified m publicly available computer programs Computer program methods to determine identity between two sequences mclude, but are not limited to, the GCG program package (Devereux, J , et al , Nucleic Acids Research 12(1) 387 (1984)), BLASTP, BLASTN, and FASTA (Atschul, S F et al , J Molec Biol 215 403-410 (1990) The BLAST X program is publicly available from NCBI and other sources (BLAST Manual, Altschul, S , et al , NCBI NLM NIH Bethesda. MD 20894, Altschul, S , et al , J Mol Biol 215 403-410 (1990) The well known Smith Waterman algonthm may also be used to determine identity Parameters for polypeptide sequence companson include the following 1) Algonthm Needleman and Wunsch, J Mol Biol 48 443-453 (1970) Companson matnx BLOSSUM62 from Hentikoff and Hentikoff, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 89 10915-10919 (1992) Gap Penalty 12 Gap Length Penalty 4 A program useful with these parameters is publicly available as the "gap" program from Genetics Computer Group. Madison WI The aforementioned parameters are the default parameters for peptide compansons (along with no penalty for end gaps) Parameters for polynucleotide comparison include the following 1) Algonthm Needleman and Wunsch, J Mol Biol 48 443-453 (1970) Companson matrix matches = +10, mismatch = 0 Gap Penalty 50 Gap Length Penalty 3 - 40 - Available as The "gap" program from Genetics Computer Group. Madison WI These are the default parameters for nucleic acid comparisons A prefened meaning for "identity" for polynucleotides and polypeptides, as the case may be are provided in (1) and (2) below (1) Polynucleotide embodiments further mclude an isolated polynucleotide comprising a polynucleotide sequence havmg at least a 50, 60, 70, 80, 85. 90, 95, 97 or 100% identity to the reference sequence of SEQ ID NO 1 , wherein said polynucleotide sequence may be identical to the reference sequence of SEQ ID NO 1 or may include up to a certain integer number of nucleotide alterations as compared to the reference sequence, wherem said alterations are selected from the group consisting of at least one nucleotide deletion substitution including transition and transversion, or insertion, and wherem said alterations ma> occur at the 5' or 3' terminal positions of the reference nucleotide sequence or anywhere between those terminal positions, interspersed either individually among the nucleotides in the reference sequence or in one or more contiguous groups within the reference sequence, and wherem said number of nucleotide alterations is determined by multiplying the total number of nucleotides in SEQ ID NO 1 by the mteger defining the percent identity divided by 100 and then subtractmg that product from said total number of nucleotides in SEQ ID NO 1, or n n ≤ x n " ( x n • y), wherein n n is the number of nucleotide alterations, x n is the total number of nucleotides in SEQ ID NO 1, y is 0 50 for 50%, 0 60 for 60%, 0 70 for 70%, 0 80 for 80% 0 85 for 85%, 0 90 for 90%, 0 95 for 95%, 0 97 for 97% or 1 00 for 100%, and • is the symbol for the multiplication operator, and wherem any non-mteger product of x n and y is rounded down to the nearest mteger prior to subtractmg it from x n Alterations of a polynucleotide sequence encoding the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO 2 may create nonsense, missense or frameshift mutations in this codmg sequence and thereby alter the polypeptide encoded by the polynucleotide following such alterations By way of example, a polynucleotide sequence of the present invention may be identical to the reference sequence of SEQ ID NO 2, that is it may be 100% identical, or it may mclude up to a certam mteger number of amino acid alterations as compared to the reference sequence such that the percent identity is less than 100% identity Such alterations are selected from the group consisting of at least one nucleic acid deletion, substitution, mcludmg transition and transversion or insertion, and wherem said alterations may occur at the 5' or 3' terminal positions of the - 41 - reference polynucleotide sequence or anywhere between those terminal positions interspersed either individually among the nucleic acids in the reference sequence or m one or more contiguous groups within the reference sequence The number of nucleic acid alterations for a given percent identity is determined by multiplying the total number of amino acids in SEQ ID NO 2 by the integer defining the percent identity divided by 100 and then subtracting that product from said total number of ammo acids in SEQ ID NO 2, or n n < x n - (x n • y), wherem n n is the number of ammo acid alterations, x n is the total number of ammo acids m SEQ ID NO 2, y is, for instance 0 70 for 70%, 0 80 for 80%, 0 85 for 85% etc , • is the symbol for the multiplication operator, and wherein any non-integer product of x n and y is rounded down to the nearest mteger pnor to subtracting it from x n (2) Polypeptide embodiments further mclude an isolated polypeptide comprising a polypeptide having at least a 50,60, 70, 80, 85, 90, 95, 97 or 100% identity to a polypeptide reference sequence of SEQ ID NO 2, wherem said polypeptide sequence may be identical to the reference sequence of SEQ ID NO 2 or may mclude up to a certam mteger number of amino acid alterations as compared to the reference sequence, wherem said alterations are selected from the group consisting of at least one ammo acid deletion, substitution, mcludmg conservative and non- conservative substitution, or msertion, and wherein said alterations may occur at the amino- or carboxy-terminal positions of the reference polypeptide sequence or anywhere between those terminal positions, interspersed either individually among the ammo acids m the reference sequence or m one or more contiguous groups withm the reference sequence, and wherein said number of ammo acid alterations is determined by multiplying the total number of ammo acids in SEQ ID NO 2 by the mteger defining the percent identity divided by 100 and then subtractmg that product from said total number of ammo acids m SEQ ID NO 2, or n a ≤ x a " ( x a # )> wherem n a is the number of amino acid alterations, x a is the total number of ammo acids in SEQ ID NO 2, y is 0 50 for 50%, 0 60 for 60%, 0 70 for 70%. 0 80 for 80% 0 85 for 85%, 0 90 for 90%. 0 95 for 95%, 0 97 for 97% or 1 00 for 100%, and • is the symbol for the multiplication 42 - operator, and wherein any non-mteger product of x a and y is rounded down to the nearest mteger prior to subtracting it from x a By way of example, a polypeptide sequence of the present invention may be identical to the reference sequence of SEQ ID NO 2, that is it may be 100% identical, or it may mclude up to a certain mteger number of ammo acid alterations as compared to the reference sequence such that the percent identity is less than 100% identity Such alterations are selected from the group consistmg of at least one amino acid deletion, substitution, mcludmg conservative and non- conservative substitution, or insertion, and wherein said alterations may occur at the ammo- or carboxy-terminal positions of the reference polypeptide sequence or anywhere between those terminal positions, interspersed either individually among the amino acids m the reference sequence or in one or more contiguous groups within the reference sequence The number of ammo acid alterations for a given % identity is determined by multiplying the total number of ammo acids m SEQ ID NO 2 by the mteger defining the percent identity divided by 100 and then subtractmg that product from said total number of ammo acids in SEQ ID NO 2, or n a < x a - (x a y), wherem n a is the number of ammo acid alterations, x a is the total number of ammo acids in SEQ ID NO 2, y is, for instance 0 70 for 70%, 0 80 for 80%, 0 85 for 85% etc , and • is the symbol for the multiplication operator, and wherem any non-mteger product of x a and y is rounded down to the nearest mteger pnor to subtracting it from x a "lmmunologically equivalent denvatιve(s)" as used herem encompasses a polypeptide, polynucleotide, or the equivalent of either which when used in a suitable formulation to raise antibodies m a vertebrate, the antibodies act to mterfere with the immediate physical interaction between pathogen and mammalian host "lmmunospecific" means that charactenstic of an antibody whereby it possesses substantially greater affinity for the polypeptides of the mvention or the polynucleotides of the mvention than its affinity for other related polypeptides or polynucleotides respectively, particularly those polypeptides and polynucleotides in the pnor art "Indιvιdual(s)" means a multicellular eukaryote, mcludmg, but not limited to a metazoan, a mammal, an ovid, a bσvid. a simian, a primate, and a human "Isolated" means altered "by the hand of man" from its natural state, i e . if it occurs m nature. it has been changed or removed from its onginal environment, or both For example, a polynucleotide - 43 - or a polypeptide naturally present in a living organism is not "isolated," but the same polynucleotide or polypeptide separated from the coexisting matenals of its natural state is "isolated" as the term is employed herem Moreover, a polynucleotide or polypeptide that is introduced mto an organism by transformation, genetic manipulation or by any other recombinant method is "isolated" even if it is still present m said organism, which organism may be living or non-living "Organιsm(s)" means a (1) prokaryote, mcludmg but not limited to, a member of the genus Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Bordetella, Corynebactenum, Mycobacterium, Neissena, Haemophilus, Actinomycetes, Streptomycetes, Nocardia, Enterobacter, Yersinia, Fancisella, Pasturella, Moraxella, Acinetobacter, Erysipelothnx, Branhamella, Actinobacillus Streptobacillus Listeria, Calymmatobactenum, Brucella, Bacillus, Clostndium, Treponema, Eschenchia Salmonella, Kleibsiella Vibrio, Proteus, Erwima, Borrelia, Leptospira, Spirillum Campylobacter Shigella, Legionella, Pseudomonas, Aeromonas, Rickettsia, Chlamydia, Borrelia and Mycoplasma, and further mcludmg, but not limited to, a member of the species or group. Group A Streptococcus, Group B Streptococcus Group C Streptococcus Group D Streptococcus Group G Streptococcus Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes Streptococcus agalactiae Streptococcus faecahs, Streptococcus faecium, Streptococcus durans, Neissena gonorrheae Neissena meningitidis, Staphylococcus aureus Staphylococcus epidermidis Corynebactenum dipthenae Gardnerella vaginahs, Mycobactenum tuberculosis, Mycobactenum bovis, Mycohactenum ulcerans, Mycobactenum leprae, Actnomyctes israeln, Listeria monocytogenes, Bordetella pertusis, Bordatella parapertusis, Bordetella bronchiseptica, Eschenchia coli, Shigella dysentenae, Haemophilus mfluenzae, Haemophilus aegyptius, Haemophilus parainfluenzae, Haemophilus ducreyi, Bordetella, Salmonella typhi, Citrobacter freundii, Proteus mirabilis, Proteus vulgans, Yersinia pestis, Kleibsiella pneumoniae Serratia marcessens Serratia hquefaciens Vibno cholera Shigella dysenteni, Shigella flexnen, Pseudomonas aemginosa, Franscisella tularensis, Brucella abortis, Bacillus anthracis, Bacillus cereus, Clostndium perfringens, Clostndium tetani, Clostndium botuhnum, Treponema paϊlidum, Rickettsia nckettsn and Chlamydia trachomitis (u) an archaeon, mcludmg but not limited to Achaebacter, and (in) a unicellular or filamentous eukaryote including but not limited to, a protozoan, a fungus, a member of the genus Saccharomyces Kluveromyces, or Candida, and a member of the species Saccharomyces cenviseae Kluveromyces lactis, or Candida albicans "Polynucleotιde(s)" generally refers to any polynbonucleotide or polydeoxnbonucleotide which may be unmodified RNA or DNA or modified RNA or DNA "Polynucleotιde(s)" mclude without limitation, smgle- and double-stranded DNA, DNA that is a mixture of smgle- and double- stranded regions or smgle-, double- and tnple-stranded regions, smgle- and double-stranded RNA. and - 44 - RNA that is mixture of smgle- and double-stranded regions, hybnd molecules compnsmg DNA and RNA that may be single-stranded or. more typically, double-stranded, or tnple-stranded regions, or a mixture of smgle- and double-stranded regions In addition, "polynucleotide" as used herein refers to tnple-stranded regions compnsmg RNA or DNA or both RNA and DNA The strands in such regions may be from the same molecule or from different molecules The regions may mclude all of one or more of the molecules, but more typically mvolve only a region of some of the molecules One of the molecules of a tnple-helical region often is an ohgonucleotide As used herem. the term "polynucleotιde(s)" also mcludes DNAs or RNAs as descnbed above that contam one or more modified bases Thus, DNAs or RNAs with backbones modified for stability or for other reasons are "polynucleotιde(s)" as that term is mtended herem Moreover, DNAs or RNAs compnsmg unusual bases, such as inosine, or modified bases, such as tntylated bases, to name just two examples, are polynucleotides as the term is used herem It will be appreciated that a great vanety of modifications have been made to DNA and RNA that serve many useful purposes known to those of skill m the art The term "polynucleotιde(s)" as it is employed herem embraces such chemically, enzymatically or metabohcally modified forms of polynucleotides, as well as the chemical forms of DNA and RNA charactenstic of viruses and cells, mcludmg, for example, simple and complex cells "Polynucleotιde(s)" also embraces short polynucleotides often refened to as ohgonucleotιde(s) "Polypeptιde(s)" refers to any peptide or protem compnsmg two or more ammo acids jomed to each other by peptide bonds or modified peptide bonds "Polypeptιde(s)" refers to both short chains, commonly refened to as peptides, oligopeptides and ohgomers and to longer chains generally refened to as proteins Polypeptides may contam ammo acids other than the 20 gene encoded ammo acids "Polypeptιde(s)" mclude those modified either by natural processes, such as processing and other post- translational moclifications. but also by chemical modification techmques Such modifications are well descnbed m basic texts and in more detailed monographs, as well as m a voluminous research hterature, and they are well known to those of skill m the art It will be appreciated that the same type of modification may be present m the same or varying degree at several sites m a given polypeptide Also, a given polypeptide may contain many types of modifications Modifications can occur anywhere m a polypeptide, mcludmg the peptide backbone, the ammo acid side-chains, and the ammo or carboxyl termini Modifications include, for example, acetylation, acylation, ADP-nbosylation, amidation, covalent attachment of flavm, covalent attachment of a heme moiety, covalent attachment of a nucleotide or nucleotide denvative, covalent attachment of a hpid or hpid denvative, covalent attachment of phosphotidylinositol, cross-linking, cyclization, disulfide bond formation, demethylation, formation of covalent cross-links, formation of cysteine, formation of pyroglutamate, formylation, gamma-carboxylation, glycosylation, GPI anchor formation, hydroxylation, lodination. methylation, - 45 - mynstoylation, oxidation, proteolytic processmg, phosphorylation, prenylation racemization glycosylation, hpid attachment, sulfation, gamma-carboxylation of glutamic acid residues, hydroxylation and ADP-nbosylation, selenoylation, sulfation, transfer-RNA mediated addition of ammo acids to proteins, such as arginylation, and ubiquitination See, for instance, PROTEINS - STRUCTURE AND MOLECULAR PROPERTIES, 2nd Ed , T E Creighton, W H Freeman and Company, New York (1993) and Wold, F , Posttranslational Protem Modifications Perspectives and Prospects, pgs 1-12 m POSTTRANSLATIONAL COVALENT MODIFICATION OF PROTEINS, B C Johnson, Ed , Academic Press, New York (1983), Seifter et al , Meth Enzymol 182 626-646 (1990) and Rattan et al , Protein Synthesis Posttranslational Modifications and Aging, Ann N Y Acad Sci 663 48-62 (1992) Polypeptides may be branched or cyclic, with or without branchmg Cyclic, branched and branched circular polypeptides may result from post-translational natural processes and may be made by entirely synthetic methods, as well "Recombinant expression system(s)" refers to expression systems or portions thereof or polynucleotides of the mvention mtroduced or transformed mto a host cell or host cell lysate for the production of the polynucleotides and polypeptides of the mvention "Subtraction set" is one or more, but preferably less than 100, polynucleotides compnsmg at least one polynucleotide of the invention "Vanant(s)" as the term is used herem, is a polynucleotide or polypeptide that differs from a reference polynucleotide or polypeptide respectively, but retams essential properties A typical vanant of a polynucleotide differs in nucleotide sequence from another, reference polynucleotide Changes in the nucleotide sequence of the vanant may or may not alter the am o acid sequence of a polypeptide encoded by the reference polynucleotide Nucleotide changes may result m amino acid substitutions, additions, deletions, fusion protems and truncations in the polypeptide encoded by the reference sequence, as discussed below A typical vanant of a polypeptide differs m ammo acid sequence from another, reference polypeptide Generally differences are limited so that the sequences of the reference polypeptide and the variant are closely similar overall and. in many regions, identical A vanant and reference polypeptide may differ m ammo acid sequence by one or more substitutions, additions, deletions in any combmation A substituted or inserted amino acid residue may or may not be one encoded by the genetic code The present invention also mcludes mclude vanants of each of the polypeptides of the mvention, that is polypeptides that vary from the referents by conservative ammo acid substitutions, whereby a residue is substituted by another with like charactenstics Typical such substitutions are among Ala, Val. Leu and He, among Ser and Thr, among the acidic residues Asp and Glu, among Asn and Gin, and among the basic residues Lys and Arg, or aromatic residues Phe and Tyr Particularly - 46 - prefened are vanants in which several. 5-10. 1-5. 1-3, 1-2 or 1 amino acids are substituted, deleted, or added m any combmation A variant of a polynucleotide or polypeptide may be a naturally occurring such as an allelic variant, or it may be a variant that is not known to occur naturally Non-naturally occurnng variants of polynucleotides and polypeptides may be made by mutagenesis techmques, by direct synthesis, and by other recombinant methods known to skilled artisans EXAMPLES The examples below are earned out usmg standard techmques, which are well known and routine to those of skill m the art, except where otherwise descnbed m detail The examples are illustrative, but do not limit the mvention Example 1 Strain selection, Library Production and Sequencing The polynucleotide having a DNA sequence given in Table 1 [SEQ ID NO 1] was obtamed from a library of clones of chromosomal DNA of Streptococcus pneumoniae in E coli The sequencing data from two or more clones containing overlapping Streptococcus pneumoniae DNAs was used to construct the contiguous DNA sequence m SEQ ID NO 1 Libraries may be prepared by routine methods, for example Methods 1 and 2 below Total cellular DNA is isolated from Streptococcus pneumoniae 0100993 according to standard procedures and size-fractionated by either of two methods Method 1 Total cellular DNA is mechanically sheared by passage through a needle in order to size- fractionate accordmg to standard procedures DNA fragments of up to 1 lkbp in size are rendered blunt by treatment with exonuclease and DNA polymerase, and EcoRI linkers added Fragments are gated mto the vector Lambda ZapII that has been cut with EcoRI. the library packaged by standard procedures and E coh infected with the packaged library The library is amphfied by standard procedures Method 2 Total cellular DNA is partially hydrolyzed with a one or a combination of restriction enzymes appropriate to generate a series of fragments for clomng mto library vectors (e g , Rsal, Pall. Alul, Bshl235I), and such fragments are size-fractionated according to standard procedures EcoRI linkers are hgated to the DNA and the fragments then hgated into the vector Lambda ZapII that have been cut with EcoRI, the library packaged by standard procedures, and E coh infected with the packaged library The library is amplified by standard procedures Example 2 6-phosphogIuconate dehydrogenase Characterization - 47 - In Eschenchia co 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (gnd) catalyzes the reaction 6- phospho-D-gluconate +NADP O NADPH +H+ + C02 + rιbulose-5-phosphate The enzyme is activated by Mg++ and is competitively inhibited by NADP and ATP Other inhibitors are p- chloromercunbenzoate, 5,5'-dιthιobιs(2-nιtrobenzoιc acid), fructose- 1,6-dιphosphate, Coenzyme A, rιbulose-5 -phosphate and heavy metals 48

Claims: What is claimed is: 1 An isolated polypeptide selected from the group consisting of (1) an isolated polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group having at least (a) 75% identity, (b) 80% identity, (c) 90% identity, or (d) 95% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO 2 over the entire length of SEQ ID NO 2, (n) an isolated polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO 2 or (in) an isolated polypeptide which is the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO 2 2 An isolated polynucleotide selected from the group consisting of (l) an isolated polynucleotide compnsmg a nucleotide sequence encodmg a polypeptide that has at least (a) 75% identity, (b) 80% identity, (c) 90% identity, or (d) 95% identity, to the ammo acid sequence of SEQ ID NO 2, over the entire length of SEQ ID NO 2, (n) an isolated polynucleotide compnsmg a nucleotide sequence that has at least (a) 75% identity (b) 80% identity, (c) 90% identity, or (d) 95% identity, over its entire length to a nucleotide sequence encodmg the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO 2, (in) an isolated polynucleotide compnsmg a nucleotide sequence which has at least (a) 75% identity. (b) 80% identity, (c) 90% identity, or (d) 95% identity, - 49 - to that of SEQ ID NO 1 over the entire length of SEQ ID NO 1. (IV) an isolated polynucleotide compnsmg a nucleotide sequence encodmg the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO 2, (vi) an isolated polynucleotide winch is the polynucleotide of SEQ ID NO 1 , or (vi) an isolated polynucleotide obtainable by screenmg an appropnate library under strmgent hybndization conditions with a labeled probe having the sequence of SEQ ID NO 1 or a fragment thereof, (vn) an isolated polynucleotide encodmg the same mature polypeptide expressed by the 6- phosphogluconate dehydrogenase gene contamed m the Streptococcus pneumoniae or a nucleotide sequence complementary to said isolated polynucleotide 3 An antibody lmmunospecific for the polypeptide of claim 1 4 A method for the treatment of an individual (I) in need of enhanced activity or expression of the polypeptide of claim 1 compnsing (a) administenng to the mdividual a therapeutically effective amount of an agomst to said polypeptide, and or (b) providing to the individual an isolated polynucleotide compnsing a nucleotide sequence encodmg said polypeptide in a form so as to effect production of said polypeptide activity in vivo , or (n) having need to inhibit activity or expression of the polypeptide of claim 1 compnsmg (a) administering to the mdividual a therapeutically effective amount of an antagonist to said polypeptide. and or (b) administering to the mdividual a nucleic acid molecule that inhibits the expression of a nucleotide sequence encodmg said polypeptide, and/or (c) administering to the individual a therapeutically effective amount of a polypeptide that competes with said polypeptide for its hgand, substrate or receptor 5 A process for diagnosing a disease or a susceptibility to a disease in an individual related to expression or activity of the polypeptide of claim 1 m an mdividual comprising 50 (a) determining the presence or absence of a mutation in the nucleotide sequence encodmg said polypeptide m the genome of said individual, and/or (b) analyzing for the presence or amount of said polypeptide expression in a sample derived from said individual 6 A method for screemng to identify compounds that activate and/or that inhibit the function of the polypeptide of claim 1 which compnses a method selected from the group consisting of (a) measuring the bmdmg of a candidate compound to the polypeptide (or to the cells or membranes bearing the polypeptide) or a fusion protem thereof b\ means of a label directly or indirectly associated with the candidate compound, (b) measuring the bmdmg of a candidate compound to the polypeptide (or to the cells or membranes bearing the polypeptide) or a fusion protein thereof m the presence of a labeled competitor. (c) testing whether the candidate compound results in a signal generated by activation or inhibition of the polypeptide, using detection systems appropriate to the cells or cell membranes bearing the polypeptide, (d) mixmg a candidate compound with a solution containing a polypeptide of claim 1 , to form a mixture, measuring activity of the polypeptide in the mixture, and companng the activity of the mixture to a standard, (e) detectmg the effect of a candidate compound on the production of mRNA encodmg said polypeptide and said polypeptide in cells, using for instance, an ELISA assay, or (f) (1) contacting a composition compnsmg the polypeptide with the compound to be screened under conditions to permit mteraction between the compound and the polypeptide to assess the mteraction of a compound, such mteraction be g associated with a second component capable of providmg a detectable signal m response to the mteraction of the polypeptide with the compound, and (2) determmmg whether the compound interacts with and activates or inhibits an activity of the polypeptide by detectmg the presence or absence of a signal generated from the mteraction of the compound with the polypeptide 7 An agomst or an antagomst of the activity or expression polypeptide of claim 1 8 An expression system compnsmg a polynucleotide capable of producing a polypeptide of claim 1 when said expression system is present in a compatible host cell - 51 - 9 A host cell comprising the expression system of claim 8 or a membrane thereof expressing the polypeptide of claim 1 10 A process for producing a polypeptide of claim 1 comprising cultunng a host cell of claim 9 under conditions sufficient for the production of said polypeptide 11 A process for producmg a host cell as defined m claim 9 comprising transforming or transfecting a cell with the expression system of claim 8 such the host cell, under appropriate culture conditions, produces a polypeptide of claim 1 12 A host cell produced by the process of claim 11 or a membrane thereof expressmg a polypeptide of claim 1 13 A computer readable medium having stored thereon a member selected from the group consistmg of a polynucleotide comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO 1 , a polypeptide compnsing the sequence of SEQ ID NO 2, a set of polynucleotide sequences wherein at least one of said sequences comprises the sequence of SEQ ID NO 1 , a set of polypeptide sequences wherem at least one of said sequences compnses the sequence of SEQ ID NO 2, a data set representing a polynucleotide sequence comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO 1. a data set representmg a polynucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide sequence compnsmg the sequence of SEQ ID NO 2, a polynucleotide comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO 1, a polypeptide compnsmg the sequence of SEQ ID NO 2, a set of polynucleotide sequences wherem at least one of said sequences comprises the sequence of SEQ ID NO 1, a set of polypeptide sequences wherem at least one of said sequences comprises the sequence of SEQ ID NO 2, a data set representmg a polynucleotide sequence compnsmg the sequence of SEQ ID NO 1 , a data set representmg a polynucleotide sequence encodmg a polypeptide sequence compnsmg the sequence of SEQ ID NO 2 14 A computer based method for performing homology identification, said method compnsing the steps of providing a polynucleotide sequence compnsmg the sequence of SEQ ID NO 1 in a computer readable medium, and comparmg said polynucleotide sequence to at least one polynucleotide or polypeptide sequence to identify homology 52 - 15 A further embodiment of the invention provides a computer based method for polynucleotide assembly, said method comprising the steps of providmg a first polynucleotide sequence comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO 1 in a computer readable medium, and screening for at least one overlappmg region between said first polynucleotide sequence and a second polynucleotide sequence - 53

Inventors: WARREN RICHARD L, WARREN, RICHARD, L.
Applicants: SMITHKLINE BEECHAM CORP, SMITHKLINE BEECHAM CORPORATION
Application year: 1999
Main classification: C12N1
IPC codes: A61K31, A61K38, A61K45, A61K48, A61P31, C07K16, C12N1, C12N5, C12N9, C12N15, C12P21