Patent ID: 7304152

Claim:
An isolated polynucleotide selected from the group consisting of: (i) an isolated polynucleotide comprising a polynucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide that has at least 95% identity to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2, over the entire length of SEQ ID NO:2; (ii) an isolated polynucleotide comprising a polynucleotide sequence that has at least 95% identity over its entire length to a polynucleotide sequence encoding the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:2; (iii) an isolated polynucleotide comprising a nucleotide sequence that has at least 95% identity to that of SEQ ID NO:1 over the entire length of SEQ ID NO: 1; (iv) an isolated polynucleotide comprising a nucleotide sequence, which encodes the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:2; (v) an isolated polynucleotide consisting of the nucleic acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1; (vi) an isolated polynucleotide of at least 30 nucleotides in length obtainable by screening an appropriate library comprising a gene for a polynucleotide represented by SEQ ID NO: 1 under stringent hybridization conditions with a probe having the sequence of SEQ ID NO:1 or a fragment thereof of at least 30 nucleotides in length, wherein the hybridization conditions comprise overnight incubation at about 42° C. in a solution comprising about 50% formamide, about 5×SSC, about 50 mM sodium phosphate, about 5× Denhardt's solution, about 10% dextran sulfate, and about 20 μg/ml salmon sperm DNA, followed by washing with about 0.1×SSC at about 65° C.; (vii) an isolated polynucleotide having at least 95% identity to the polynucleotide represented by SEQ ID NO: 1 encoding a mature polypeptide expressed by the metRS2 gene comprised in Streptococcus pneumoniae; and (viii) a polynucleotide sequence fully complementary to said isolated polynucleotide of (i), (ii), (iii), (iv), (v), (vi), or (vii); wherein the polynucleotide encodes for a polypeptide which functions to confer resistance to methionyl tRNA synthetase inhibitors.