scholarly journals Cloning of the chromosomal determinants encoding hemolysin production and mannose-resistant hemagglutination in Escherichia coli

1982 ◽  
Vol 152 (3) ◽  
pp. 1241-1247
Author(s):  
H Berger ◽  
J Hacker ◽  
A Juarez ◽  
C Hughes ◽  
W Goebel

We have cloned the chromosomal hemolysin determinants from Escherichia coli strains belonging to the four O-serotypes O4, O6, O18, and O75. The hemolysin-producing clones were isolated from gene banks of these strains which were constructed by inserting partial Sau3A fragments of chromosomal DNA into the cosmid pJC74. The hemolytic cosmid clones were relatively stable. The inserts were further subcloned either as SalI fragments in pACYC184 or as BamHI-SalI fragments in a recombinant plasmid (pANN202) containing cistron C (hlyC) of the plasmid-encoded hemolysin determinant. Detailed restriction maps of each of these determinants were constructed, and it was found that, despite sharing overall homology, the determinants exhibited minor specific differences in their structure. These appeared to be restricted to cistron A (hlyA), which is the structural gene for hemolysin. In the gene banks of two of these hemolytic strains, we could also identify clones which carried the genetic determinants for the mannose-resistant hemagglutination antigens Vb and VIc. Both of these fimbrial antigens were expressed in the E. coli K-12 clones to an extent similar to that observed in the wild-type strains. These recombinant cosmids were rather unstable, and, in the absence of selection, segregated at a high frequency.

Genetics ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 119 (4) ◽  
pp. 771-778
Author(s):  
C W Hill ◽  
J A Gray

Abstract In an effort to learn what factors might mitigate the establishment of Escherichia coli variants bearing major chromosomal rearrangements, we have examined the effects on cell growth of two inversions between rRNA operons. One of these inversions, IN(rrnD-rrnE), had been propagated in a commonly used subline of E. coli K-12 for approximately 30 yr before its discovery, a fact that illustrates the absence of obvious detrimental effects associated with the inversion. We found that culturing under conditions requiring repeated transition from stationary phase to rapid growth led to the replacement of IN(rrnD-rrnE) cells by cells that had undergone either of two types of additional chromosomal inversion: one type fully restored the wild-type order, while the other partially restored it. The partial reinversion was also between rrn operons, but it left a small transposition. The tendency for overgrowth by these revertants persisted through several rounds of periodic selection. In contrast, the other inversion, IN(rrnG-rrnE), was associated with severe, detrimental effects. The effects of IN(rrnG-rrnE) were also alleviated by full or partial reinversion. The probable relationship between the severity of the effects caused by the inversions and the degree of displacement of the replication origin is discussed. Spontaneous inversion events between rrn operons separated by 18% of the chromosome were estimated to occur at a frequency of roughly 10(-5). If extended to natural situations, the growth disadvantage together with the relatively high frequency of reinversion suggest that clones of cells with an inversion between these rrn operons would be readily overgrown by revertants.


1982 ◽  
Vol 152 (1) ◽  
pp. 534-537
Author(s):  
S Mitra ◽  
B C Pal ◽  
R S Foote

O(6)-Methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase is induced in Escherichia coli during growth in low levels of N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine. We have developed a sensitive assay for quantitating low levels of this activity with a synthetic DNA substrate containing 3H-labeled O(6)-methylguanine as the only modified base. Although both wild-type and adaptation-deficient (ada) mutants of E. coli contained low but comparable numbers (from 13 to 60) of the enzyme molecules per cell, adaptation treatment caused a significant increase of the enzyme in the wild type but not in the ada mutants, suggesting that the ada mutation is in a regulatory locus and not in the structural gene for the methyltransferase.


2004 ◽  
Vol 72 (12) ◽  
pp. 7030-7039 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eckhard Strauch ◽  
Christoph Schaudinn ◽  
Lothar Beutin

ABSTRACT A bacteriophage encoding the Shiga toxin 2c variant (Stx2c) was isolated from the human Escherichia coli O157 strain CB2851 and shown to form lysogens on the E. coli K-12 laboratory strains C600 and MG1655. Production of Stx2c was found in the wild-type E. coli O157 strain and the K-12 lysogens and was inducible by growing bacteria in the presence of ciprofloxacin. Phage 2851 is the first reported viable bacteriophage which carries an stx 2c gene. Electron micrographs of phage 2851 showed particles with elongated hexagonal heads and long flexible tails resembling phage lambda. Sequence analysis of an 8.4-kb region flanking the stx 2c gene and other genetic elements revealed a mosaic gene structure, as found in other Stx phages. Phage 2851 showed lysis of E. coli K-12 strains lysogenic for Stx phages encoding Stx1 (H19), Stx2 (933W), Stx (7888), and Stx1c (6220) but showed superinfection immunity with phage lambda, presumably originating from the similarity of the cI repressor proteins of both phages. Apparently, phage 2851 integrates at a different chromosomal locus than Stx2 phage 933W and Stx1 phage H19 in E. coli, explaining why Stx2c is often found in combination with Stx1 or Stx2 in E. coli O157 strains. Diagnostic PCR was performed to determine gene sequences specific for phage 2851 in wild-type E. coli O157 strains producing Stx2c. The phage 2851 q and o genes were frequently detected in Stx2c-producing E. coli O157 strains, indicating that phages related to 2851 are associated with Stx2c production in strains of E. coli O157 that were isolated in different locations and time periods.


1982 ◽  
Vol 152 (2) ◽  
pp. 848-854
Author(s):  
M T McCaman ◽  
A McPartland ◽  
M R Villarejo

Escherichia coli K-12 strains contain a cytoplasmic activity, peptidase N, capable of hydrolyzing alanine-p-nitroanilide. Mutations in the structural gene for the enzyme, pepN, were mapped, and the properties of mutant strains were examined. The pepN locus lay between ompF and asnS at approximately 20.8 min on the E. coli chromosome. Loss of peptidase N activity through mutation had no apparent effect on the growth rate or nutritional needs of the cell. Enzyme levels in wild-type strains were constant throughout the growth cycle and were constitutive in all of the growth media tested. Starvation for carbon, nitrogen, or phosphate also did not alter enzyme levels. Constitutive expression of peptidase N is consistent with the idea that the enzyme plays a significant role in the degradation of intracellularly generated peptides.


2006 ◽  
Vol 74 (8) ◽  
pp. 4685-4693 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haiqing Sheng ◽  
Ji Youn Lim ◽  
Hannah J. Knecht ◽  
Jie Li ◽  
Carolyn J. Hovde

ABSTRACT The human pathogen Escherichia coli O157:H7 causes hemorrhagic colitis and life-threatening sequelae and transiently colonizes healthy cattle at the terminal rectal mucosa. This study analyzed virulence factors important for the clinical manifestations of human E. coli O157:H7 infection for their contribution to the persistence of E. coli in cattle. The colonizing ability of E. coli O157:H7 was compared with those of nonpathogenic E. coli K-12 and isogenic deletion mutants missing Shiga toxin (Stx), the adhesin intimin, its receptor Tir, hemolysin, or the ∼92-kb pO157. Fully ruminant steers received a single rectal application of one E. coli strain so that effects of mucosal attachment and survival at the terminal rectum could be measured without the impact of bacterial passage through the entire gastrointestinal tract. Colonization was monitored by sensitive recto-anal junction mucosal swab culture. Nonpathogenic E. coli K-12 did not colonize as well as E. coli O157:H7 at the bovine terminal rectal mucosa. The E. coli O157:H7 best able to persist had intimin, Tir, and the pO157. Strains missing even one of these factors were recovered in lower numbers and were cleared faster than the wild type. In contrast, E. coli O157:H7 strains that were missing Stx or hemolysin colonized like the wild type. For these three strains, the number of bacteria increased between days 1 and 4 postapplication and then decreased slowly. In contrast, the numbers of noncolonizing strains (K-12, Δtir, and Δeae) decreased from the day of application. These patterns consistently predicted long-term colonization or clearance of the bacteria from the bovine terminal rectal mucosa.


2002 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
pp. 440-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Woegerbauer ◽  
Bernard Jenni ◽  
Florian Thalhammer ◽  
Wolfgang Graninger ◽  
Heinz Burgmann

ABSTRACT Transfer of plasmid-borne antibiotic resistance genes in Escherichia coli wild-type strains is possible by transformation under naturally occurring conditions in oligotrophic, aquatic environments containing physiologic concentrations of calcium. In contrast, transformation is suppressed in nitrogen-rich body fluids like urine, a common habitat of uropathogenic strains. Current knowledge indicates that transformation of these E. coli wild-type strains is of no relevance for the acquisition of resistance in this clinically important environment.


2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian P. Anton ◽  
Alexey Fomenkov ◽  
Elisabeth A. Raleigh ◽  
Mehmet Berkmen

SHuffle strains are genetically engineered Escherichia coli strains that are capable of oxidizing cysteines within proteins to form disulfide bonds. Here we present the complete genome of both the K-12 and B versions of SHuffle strains along with their parental ancestors. These strains have been of significant use to both the general scientific community and the biotech industry, interested in producing novel disulfide-bonded proteins that were hitherto unable to be expressed in standard E. coli expression strains.


1975 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 754-758 ◽  
Author(s):  
John B. Armstrong ◽  
John A. Fairfield

Six methionine auxotrophs were isolated from an E. coli K-12 strain which required up to 100 times as much methionine for growth as a conventional auxotroph. In these mutants, the methionyl-tRNA synthetase had an increased Km for methionine. The Km value for the mutants ranged from 0.48 to 1.63 mM, compared to 0.078 mM for the wild type. The Km (methionine) for S-adenosyl methionine synthetase was not altered.


2006 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 2233-2244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison S. Low ◽  
Francis Dziva ◽  
Alfredo G. Torres ◽  
Jessenya L. Martinez ◽  
Tracy Rosser ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Recent transposon mutagenesis studies with two enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC) strains, a sero- type O26:H- strain and a serotype O157:H7 strain, led to identification of a putative fimbrial operon that promotes colonization of young calves (1 to 2 weeks old). The distribution of the gene encoding the major fimbrial subunit present in O-island 61 of EHEC O157:H7 in a characterized set of 78 diarrheagenic E. coli strains was determined, and this gene was found in 87.2% of the strains and is therefore not an EHEC-specific region. The cluster was amplified by long-range PCR and cloned into the inducible expression vector pBAD18. Induced expression in E. coli K-12 led to production of fimbriae, as demonstrated by transmission electron microscopy and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis analysis. The fimbriae were purified, and sera to the purified major subunit were raised and used to demonstrate expression from wild-type E. coli O157:H7 strains. Induced expression of the fimbriae, designated F9 fimbriae, was used to characterize binding to bovine epithelial cells, bovine gastrointestinal tissue explants, and extracellular matrix components. The fimbriae promoted increases in the levels of E. coli K-12 binding only to bovine epithelial cells. In contrast, induced expression of F9 fimbriae in E. coli O157:H7 significantly reduced adherence of the bacteria to bovine gastrointestinal explant tissue. This may have been due to physical hindrance of type III secretion-dependent attachment. The main F9 subunit gene was deleted in E. coli O157:H7, and the resulting mutant was compared with the wild-type strain for colonization in weaned cattle. While the shedding levels of the mutant were reduced, the animals were still colonized at the terminal rectum, indicating that the adhesin is not responsible for the rectal tropism observed but may contribute to colonization at other sites, as demonstrated previously with very young animals.


1999 ◽  
Vol 181 (14) ◽  
pp. 4318-4325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masaru Ohara ◽  
Henry C. Wu ◽  
Krishnan Sankaran ◽  
Paul D. Rick

ABSTRACT We report here the identification of a new lipoprotein, NlpI, inEscherichia coli K-12. The NlpI structural gene (nlpI) is located between the genes pnp(polynucleotide phosphorylase) and deaD (RNA helicase) at 71 min on the E. coli chromosome. The nlpI gene encodes a putative polypeptide of approximately 34 kDa, and multiple lines of evidence clearly demonstrate that NlpI is indeed a lipoprotein. An nlpI::cm mutation rendered growth of the cells osmotically sensitive, and incubation of the insertion mutant at an elevated temperature resulted in the formation of filaments. The altered phenotype of the mutant was a direct consequence of the mutation in nlpI, since it was complemented by the wild-type nlpI gene alone. Overexpression of the unaltered nlpI gene in wild-type cells resulted in the loss of the rod morphology and the formation of single prolate ellipsoids and pairs of prolate ellipsoids joined by partial constrictions. NlpI may be important for an as-yet-undefined step in the overall process of cell division.


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