DpiA binding to the replication origin of Escherichia coli plasmids and chromosomes destabilizes plasmid inheritance and induces the bacterial SOS response

The dpiA and dpiB genes of Escherichia coli, which are orthologs of genes that regulate citrate uptake and utilization in Klebsiella pneumoniae, comprise a two-component signal transduction system that can modulate the replication of and destabilize the inheritance of pSC101 and certain other plasmids. Here we show that perturbed replication and inheritance result from binding of the effector protein DpiA to A+T-rich replication origin sequences that resemble those in the K. pneumoniae promoter region targeted by the DpiA ortholog, CitB. Consistent with its ability to bind to A+T-rich origin sequences, overproduction of DpiA induced the SOS response in E. coli, suggesting that chromosomal DNA replication is affected. Bacteria that overexpressed DpiA showed an increased amount of DNA per cell and increased cell size-both also characteristic of the SOS response. Concurrent overexpression of the DNA replication initiation protein, DnaA, or the DNA helicase, DnaB-both of which act at A+T-rich replication origin sequences in the E. coli chromosome and DpiA-targeted plasmids-reversed SOS induction as well as plasmid destabilization by DpiA. Our finding that physical and functional interactions between DpiA and sites of replication initiation modulate DNA replication and plasmid inheritance suggests a mechanism by which environmental stimuli transmitted by these gene products can regulate chromosomal and plasmid dynamics.     

Role of DNA superhelicity in partitioning of the pSC101 plasmid

Previous work has shown that a cis-acting locus (termed par for partitioning) on the pSC101 plasmid accomplishes its stable inheritance in dividing cell populations. We report here that the DNA of pSC101 derivatives lacking the par region shows a decrease in overall superhelical density as compared with DNA of wild-type pSC101. Chemicals and bacterial mutations that reduce negative DNA supercoiling increase the rate of loss of par plasmids and convert normally stable plasmids that have minimal par region deletions into unstable replicons. topA gene mutations, which increase negative DNA supercoiling, reverse the instability of partition-defective plasmids that utilize the pSC101, p15A, F, or oriC replication systems. Our observations show that the extent of negative supercoiling of plasmid DNA has major effects on the plasmid's inheritance and suggest a mechanism by which the pSC101 par region may exert its stabilizing effects.     

Plasmid pSC101 harbors a recombination site, psi, which is able to resolve plasmid multimers and to substitute for the analogous chromosomal Escherichia coli site dif.

Plasmid pSC101 harbors a 28-bp sequence which is homologous to dif, the target site of the XerC/XerD-dependent recombination system in Escherichia coli. Using a technique which allows very sensitive detection of plasmid loss, we show that recombination at this site, termed psi for pSC101 stabilized inheritance, causes a moderate increase in pSC101 stability. The role of the psi sequence in site-specific recombination has been explored in two other contexts. It was cloned in a derivative of plasmid p15A and inserted into the chromosome in place of dif. In the first situation, psi activity requires accessory sequences and results in multimer resolution; in the second situation, it suppresses the effects of the dif deletion and can promote intermolecular exchanges. Thus, psi is a site whose recombinational activity depends on the context, the first in the cer/dif family known to exhibit such flexibility.     

The partition (par) locus of pSC101 is an enhancer of plasmid incompatibility

The incompatibitity that pSC101-derived plasmids express toward each other is mediated by directly repeated sequences (iterons) located near the plasmid's replication origin. We report here that the pSC101 par locus, which stabilizes plasmid inheritance in dividing cell populations and alters DNA superheliclty, can function as a cis-acting enhancer of incompatibility, which we show is determined jointly by the copy number of the plasmid and the number of iterons per copy. A single synthetic 32 bp iteron sequence carried by the pUC19 plasmid confers strong pSC101-specific incompatibility in the absence of any other pSC101 sites but requires the par locus to express strong incompatibility when carried by a lower-copy-number plasmid. We propose a model by which the par locus can enchance the apparently antagonistic processes of incompatibility and pSC101 DNA replication while concurrently facilitating plasmid distribution during cell division.     

Excess intracellular concentration of the pSC101 RepA protein interferes with both plasmid DNA replication and partitioning.

RepA, a plasmid-encoded gene product required for pSC101 replication in Escherichia coli, is shown here to inhibit the replication of pSC101 in vivo when overproduced 4- to 20-fold in trans. Unlike plasmids whose replication is prevented by mutations in the repA gene, plasmids prevented from replicating by overproduction of the RepA protein were lost rapidly from the cell population instead of being partitioned evenly between daughter cells. Removal of the partition (par) locus increased the inhibitory effect of excess RepA on replication, while host and plasmid mutations that compensate for the absence of par, or overproduction of the E. coli DnaA protein, diminished it. A repA mutation (repA46) that elevates pSC101 copy number almost entirely eliminated the inhibitory effect of RepA at high concentration and stimulated replication when the protein was moderately overproduced. As the RepA protein can exist in both monomer and dimer forms, we suggest that overproduction promotes RepA dimerization, reducing the formation of replication initiation complexes that require the RepA monomer and DnaA; we propose that the repA46 mutation alters the ability of the mutant protein to dimerize. Our discovery that an elevated intracellular concentration of RepA specifically impedes plasmid partitioning implies that the RepA-containing complexes initiating pSC101 DNA replication participate also in the distribution of plasmids at cell division.     

Boundaries of the pSC101 minimal replicon are conditional.

The DNA segment essential for plasmid replication commonly is referred to as the core or minimal replicon. We report here that host and plasmid genes and sites external to the core replicon of plasmid pSC101 determine the boundaries and competence of the replicon and also the efficiency of partitioning. Missense mutations in the plasmid-encoded RepA protein or mutation of the Escherichia coli topoisomerase I gene enable autonomous replication of a 310-bp pSC101 DNA fragment that contains only the actual replication origin plus binding sites for RepA and the host-encoded DnaA protein. However, in the absence of a repA or topA mutation, the DNA-bending protein integration host factor (IHF) and either of two cis-acting elements are required. One of these, the partitioning (par) locus, is known to promote negative DNA supercoiling; our data suggest that the effects of the other element, the inverted repeat (IR) sequences that overlap the repA promoter, are mediated through the IR's ability to bind RepA. The concentrations of RepA and DnaA, which interact with each other and with plasmid DNA in the origin region (T. T. Stenzel, T. MacAllister, and D. Bastia, Genes Dev. 5:1453-1463, 1991), also affect both replication and partitioning. Our results, which indicate that the sequence requirements for replication of pSC101 are conditional rather than absolute, compel reassessment of the definition of a core replicon. Additionally, they provide further evidence that the origin region RepA-DnaA-DNA complex initiating replication of pSC101 also mediates the partitioning of pSC101 plasmids at cell division.     

A 37 X 10(3) molecular weight plasmid-encoded protein is required for replication and copy number control in the plasmid pSC101 and its temperature-sensitive derivative pHS1

Nucleotide sequences were determined for a region essential for autonomous replication and partitioning of pSC101, a plasmid whose replication is dependent on the Escherichia coli dnaA gene product. The essential replication region contains one long coding sequence, rep101 , for a protein composed of 316 amino acids, and a polypeptide approximately 37 X 10(3) Mr in size was identified as the rep101 gene product. rep101 is preceded by two inverted repeat sequences, three directly repeated sequences and a region of high A + T content containing a sequence similar to the E. coli oriC consensus sequence. Because the lesions in seven replication-deficient insertion mutants, four mutants with increased copy number and one temperature-sensitive replication mutant occur within rep101 , the rep101 gene product must control pSC101 replication and copy number. par, a region adjacent to the replication region, which functions in stable plasmid inheritance, contains several inverted repeat sequences.     

Isolation and characterization of plasmid mutations that enable partitioning of pSC101 replicons lacking the partition (par) locus.

Second-site mutations that allow stable inheritance of partition-defective pSC101 plasmids mapped to seven distinct sites in the 5' half of the plasmid repA gene. While the mutations also elevated pSC101 copy number, there was no correlation between copy number increase and plasmid stability. Combinations of mutations enabled pSC101 DNA replication in the absence of integration host factor and also stabilized par-deleted plasmids in cells deficient in DNA gyrase or defective in DnaA binding. Our findings suggest that repA mutations compensate for par deletion by enabling the origin region RepA-DNA-DnaA complex to form under suboptimal conditions. They also provide evidence that this complex has a role in partitioning that is separate from its known ability to promote plasmid DNA replication.     

Escherichia coli minichromosomes containing the pSC101 partitioning locus are not stably inherited

Thepar region of pSC101, required incis to promote its stable inheritance, was joined, in combination with thetet^r determinant of pBR325, to large and small minichromosomes. These hybrid minichromosomes were examined for stability and found to be no more stable than their parent minichromosomes. Indeed, one recombinant plasmid, pEH21, showed reduced stability, which was not attributable to a reduced copy number. Neither pEH21 nor pEH22, a plasmid composed of the same DNA arranged differently, was stabilized by the presence of a Par⁺ pSC101 derived replicon in the same cell. We conclude that thepar region of pSC101 does not stabilize minichromosomes.     

Involvement of integration host factor (IHF) in maintenance of plasmid pSC101 in Escherichia coli: mutations in the topA gene allow pSC101 replication in the absence of IHF.

Integration host factor (IHF), encoded by the himA and himD genes, is a histonelike DNA-binding protein that participates in many cellular functions in Escherichia coli, including the maintenance of plasmid pSC101. We have isolated and characterized a chromosomal mutation that compensates for the absence of IHF and allows the maintenance of wild-type pSC101 in him mutants, but does not restore IHF production. The mutation is recessive and was found to affect the gene topA, which encodes topoisomerase I, a protein that relaxes negatively supercoiled DNA and acts in concert with DNA gyrase to regulate levels of DNA supercoiling. A previously characterized topA mutation, topA10, could also compensate for the absence of IHF to allow pSC101 replication. IHF-compensating mutations affecting topA resulted in a large reduction in topoisomerase I activity, and plasmid DNA isolated from such strains was more negatively supercoiled than DNA from wild-type strains. In addition, our experiments show that both pSC101 and pBR322 plasmid DNAs isolated from him mutants were of lower superhelical density than DNA isolated from Him+ strains. A concurrent gyrB gene mutation, which reduces supercoiling, reversed the ability of topA mutations to compensate for a lack of him gene function. Together, these findings indicate that the topological state of the pSC101 plasmid profoundly influences its ability to be maintained in populations of dividing cells and suggest a model to account for the functional interactions of the him, rep, topA, and gyr gene products in pSC101 maintenance.     

Involvement of integration host factor (IHF) in maintenance of plasmid pSC101 in Escherichia coli: characterization of pSC101 mutants that replicate in the absence of IHF

Escherichia coli mutants defective in the stable maintenance of plasmid pSC101 have been isolated following Tn10 insertion mutagenesis. One class of mutations affecting pSC101 replication was located in the genes himA and himD (hip), which encode the two subunits of integration host factor (IHF), a small histonelike DNA-binding protein that has multiple cellular functions. Mutants of pSC101 that could replicate in the absence of IHF were isolated and characterized; four independent mutational alterations were found to affect the third codon of the pSC101 rep gene, resulting in the replacement of glutamic acid by lysine. The compensating alteration appears to function by altering the activity of the pSC101 rep protein in him mutants.     

The sensor kinase CitA (DpiB) of Escherichia coli functions as a high-affinity citrate receptor

For the CitA-CitB (DpiB-DpiA) two-component signal transduction system from Escherichia coli, three diverse functions have been reported: induction of the citrate fermentation genes citCDEFXGT, repression of the regulator gene appY, and destabilization of the inheritance of iteron-containing plasmids such as pSC101. This poses the question of the principal biological role of this system. Here it is shown that the periplasmic domain of the E. coli sensor kinase CitA functions as a high-affinity citrate receptor. Two CitA derivatives were purified by affinity chromatography and subjected to binding studies using isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). One of them, termed CitA215MBP, comprised the N-terminal part of CitA (amino acid residues 1-215), including the two transmembrane helices, and was fused to the amino terminus of the E. coli maltose-binding protein lacking its signal peptide. The second CitA derivative, designated CitAP(Ec), encompassed only the periplasmic domain (amino acid residues 38-177). CitA215MBP bound citrate at 25 degrees C with a K(d) of 0.3 microM and a binding stoichiometry of up to 0.9 in 50 mM sodium phosphate buffer, pH 7. Binding was driven by the enthalpy change (Delta H of -95.7 kJ mol(-1)), whereas the entropy change was not favorable for binding ( T Delta S of -58.6 kJ mol(-1)). ITC experiments with CitAP(Ec) yielded similar K(d) values for citrate (0.15-1.0 microM). Besides citrate, also isocitrate ( K(d) approximately tricarballylate ( K(d) approximately t not malate were bound by CitAP(Ec). The results favor the assumption that the primary biological function of the CitA-CitB system is the regulation of the citrate fermentation genes.     

Effect of dna mutations on the replication of plasmid pSC101 in Escherichia coli K-12.

Escherichia coli strains with mutations in genes dnaB, dnaC, and dnaG were tested for their capacity to replicate pSC101 deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) at a nonpermissive temperature. Only a small amount of radioactive thymine was incorporated into pSC101 DNA in the dna mutants at 42 degrees C, whereas active incorporation into plasmid DNA took place in wild-type strains under the same conditions. The effects of the dnaB and dnaC mutations were greater on plasmid DNA synthesis than on host chromosomal DNA synthesis, suggesting that these gene products are directly involved in the process of pSC101 DNA replication. In dnaG mutants, both plasmid and chromosomal DNA synthesis were blocked soon after the shift to high temperature; although the extent of inhibition of the plasmid DNA synthesis was greater during the early period of temperature shift to 42 degrees C as compared with that of the host DNA synthesis, during the later period it was less. It was found that the number of copies of pSC101 per chromosome in dnaA and dnaC strains, grown at 30 degrees C, was considerably lower than that in wildtype strains, suggesting that the replication of pSC101 in these mutant strains was partially suppressed even under the permissive conditions. No correlation was found between the number of plasmid copies and the tetracycline resistance level of the host bacterium.     

Genetic analysis of the inter-relationship between plasmid replication and incompatibility

Summary The relationship between replication control and plasmid incompatibility has been investigated using a composite replicon, pPM1, which consists of the pSC101 plasmid ligated to another small multicopy plasmid, RSF1050. Since pPM1 can utilise the replication system of either of the two functionally distinct components, propagation of the composite plasmid can occur in the presence of a mutation of one of its moieties. Such mutants are detected by their inability to rescue the composite plasmid under conditions not permissive for replication of the other moiety. Mutations in incompatibility functions can be detected by the failure of the composite replicon to exclude co-existing plasmids carrying a replication system identical to the one on pPM1.The inability of the composite plasmid to replicate at 42° in a host synthesizing temperature-sensitive DNA polymerase I, which is required by the RSF1050 replication system, was used to isolate pPM1 mutants defective in replication of the pSC101 component. Mutants defective in the incompatibility functions of pSC101 were obtained by selecting derivatives that allow the stable coexistence of a second pSC101 replicon in the same cell. Analysis of these two classes of mutants indicates that plasmids selected for defective pSC101 replication ability nevertheless retain pSC101 incompatibility. In contrast, plasmid mutants that have lost incompatibility functions were found always to be defective in replication ability.     

New pSC101-derivative cloning vectors with elevated copy numbers

Mutations that increase the copy number of the pSC101 replicon have been used for construction of new cloning vectors. Replacement of glutamate at position 93 in RepA yields plasmids that replicate at medium (27 copies/cell) and high (approximately 240 copies/cell) copy numbers. Based on the crystal structure of RepE, a structurally similar replication initiator protein from the F factor, the pSC101 repA mutants are predicted to be defective in dimerization. The cloning vectors permit increased expression of gene products along with the advantages of pSC101-derivative plasmids, including stable maintenance and compatibility with ColE1 plasmids. The plasmids also allow blue/white screening for DNA inserts and impart resistance to ampicillin, chloramphenicol and kanamycin. The vectors were used in a genetic assay to suppress temperature-sensitive mutants of ffh, encoding the protein component of the Escherichia coli signal recognition particle, by overproduction of 4.5S RNA. While expression of 4.5S RNA from a wild type pSC101-derivative plasmid was not sufficient for suppression, use of the new vectors did suppress the temperature-sensitive phenotype.