scholarly journals LOCALIZED MUTAGENESIS FOR THE ISOLATION OF TEMPERATURE-SENSITIVE MUTANTS OF ESCHERICHIA COLI AFFECTED IN PROTEIN SYNTHESIS

Genetics ◽  
1979 ◽  
Vol 91 (2) ◽  
pp. 215-227
Author(s):  
W Scott Champney

ABSTRACT Two variations of the method of localized mutagenesis were used to introduce mutations into the 72 min region of the Escherichia coli chromosome. Twenty temperature-sensitive mutants, with linkage to markers in this region, have been examined. Each strain showed an inhibition of growth in liquid medium at 44°, and 19 of the mutants lost viability upon prolonged incubation at this temperature. A reduction in the rate of in vivo RNA and protein synthesis was observed for each mutant at 44°, relative to a control strain. Eleven of the mutants were altered in growth sensitivity or resistance to one or more of three ribosomal antibiotics. The incomplete assembly of ribosomal subunits was detected in nine strains grown at 44°. The characteristics of these mutants suggest that many of them are altered in genes for translational or transcriptional components, consistent with the clustering of these genes at this chromosomal locus.

Biochemistry ◽  
1979 ◽  
Vol 18 (24) ◽  
pp. 5482-5489 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamid Rahi ◽  
Cheryle P. Mothershed ◽  
W. Scott Champney

2003 ◽  
Vol 185 (5) ◽  
pp. 1726-1729 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshio Mohri ◽  
Simon Goto ◽  
Kenji Nakahigashi ◽  
Hachiro Inokuchi

ABSTRACT According to the wobble rule, tRNA2Thr is nonessential for protein synthesis, because the codon (ACG) that is recognized by tRNA2Thr is also recognized by tRNA4Thr. In order to investigate the reason that this nonessential tRNA nevertheless exists in Escherichia coli, we attempted to isolate tRNA2Thr-requiring mutants. Using strain JM101F−, which lacks the gene for tRNA2Thr, we succeeded in isolating two temperature-sensitive mutants whose temperature sensitivity was complemented by introduction of the gene for tRNA2Thr. These mutants had a mutation in the htrB gene, whose product is an enzyme involved in lipid A biosynthesis. Although it is known that some null mutations in the htrB gene give a temperature-sensitive phenotype, our mutants exhibited tighter temperature sensitivity. We discuss a possible mechanism for the requirement for tRNA2Thr.


2000 ◽  
Vol 182 (6) ◽  
pp. 1523-1528 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Rogelio Cruz-Vera ◽  
Ivonne Toledo ◽  
Javier Hernández-Sánchez ◽  
Gabriel Guarneros

ABSTRACT The gene pth, encoding peptidyl-tRNA hydrolase (Pth), is essential for protein synthesis and viability of Escherichia coli. Two pth mutants have been studied in depth: apth(Ts) mutant isolated as temperature sensitive and a pth(rap) mutant selected as nonpermissive for bacteriophage λ vegetative growth. Here we show that each mutant protein is defective in a different way. The Pth(Ts) protein was very unstable in vivo, both at 43°C and at permissive temperatures, but its specific activity was comparable to that of the wild-type enzyme, Pth(wt). Conversely, the mutant Pth(rap) protein had the same stability as Pth(wt), but its specific activity was low. The thermosensitivity of the pth(Ts) mutant, presumably, ensues after Pth(Ts) protein levels are reduced at 43°C. Conditions that increased the cellular Pth(Ts) concentration, a rise in gene copy number or diminished protein degradation, allowed cell growth at a nonpermissive temperature. Antibiotic-mediated inhibition of mRNA and protein synthesis, but not of peptidyl-tRNA drop-off, reducedpth(Ts) cell viability even at a permissive temperature. Based on these results, we suggest that Pth(Ts) protein, being unstable in vivo, supports cell viability only if its concentration is maintained above a threshold that allows general protein synthesis.


2006 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 362-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xilin Zhao ◽  
Muhammad Malik ◽  
Nymph Chan ◽  
Alex Drlica-Wagner ◽  
Jian-Ying Wang ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Inhibition of DNA replication in an Escherichia coli dnaB-22 mutant failed to block quinolone-mediated lethality. Inhibition of protein synthesis by chloramphenicol inhibited nalidixic acid lethality and, to a lesser extent, ciprofloxacin lethality in both dnaB-22 and wild-type cells. Thus, major features of quinolone-mediated lethality do not depend on ongoing replication.


Genetics ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 148 (3) ◽  
pp. 989-1005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keiko Umezu ◽  
Neal Sugawara ◽  
Clark Chen ◽  
James E Haber ◽  
Richard D Kolodner

Abstract Replication protein A (RPA) is a single-stranded DNA-binding protein identified as an essential factor for SV40 DNA replication in vitro. To understand the in vivo functions of RPA, we mutagenized the Saccharomyces cerevisiae RFA1 gene and identified 19 ultraviolet light (UV) irradiation- and methyl methane sulfonate (MMS)-sensitive mutants and 5 temperature-sensitive mutants. The UV- and MMS-sensitive mutants showed up to 104 to 105 times increased sensitivity to these agents. Some of the UV- and MMS-sensitive mutants were killed by an HO-induced double-strand break at MAT. Physical analysis of recombination in one UV- and MMS-sensitive rfa1 mutant demonstrated that it was defective for mating type switching and single-strand annealing recombination. Two temperature-sensitive mutants were characterized in detail, and at the restrictive temperature were found to have an arrest phenotype and DNA content indicative of incomplete DNA replication. DNA sequence analysis indicated that most of the mutations altered amino acids that were conserved between yeast, human, and Xenopus RPA1. Taken together, we conclude that RPA1 has multiple roles in vivo and functions in DNA replication, repair, and recombination, like the single-stranded DNA-binding proteins of bacteria and phages.


1992 ◽  
Vol 262 (2) ◽  
pp. C445-C452 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. C. Vary ◽  
S. R. Kimball

The regulation of protein synthesis was determined in livers from control, sterile inflammatory, and septic animals. Total liver protein was increased in both sterile inflammation and sepsis. The rate of protein synthesis in vivo was measured by the incorporation of [3H]phenylalanine into liver proteins in a chronic (5 day) intra-abdominal abscess model. Both sterile inflammation and sepsis increased total hepatic protein synthesis approximately twofold. Perfused liver studies demonstrated that the increased protein synthesis rate in vivo resulted from a stimulation in the synthesis of both secreted and nonsecreted proteins. The total hepatic RNA content was increased 40% only in sterile inflammation, whereas the translational efficiency was increased twofold only in sepsis. The increase in translational efficiency was accompanied by decreases in the amount of free 40S and 60S ribosomal subunits in sepsis. Rates of peptide-chain elongation in vivo were increased 40% in both sterile inflammation and sepsis. These results demonstrate that sepsis induces changes in the regulation of hepatic protein synthesis that are independent of the general inflammatory response. In sterile inflammation, the increase in protein synthesis occurs by a combination of increased capacity and translational efficiency, while in sepsis, the mechanism responsible for accelerated protein synthesis is an increased translational efficiency.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document