Cloning and sequencing of an Escherichia coli gene, nlp, highly homologous to the ner genes of bacteriophages Mu and D108.

An nlp (Ner-like protein) gene was isolated from Escherichia coli. The nucleotide sequence of a 1,342-base-pair chromosomal DNA fragment containing the nlp gene was analyzed. It contained two open reading frames; one encoded 91 amino acid residues with an Mr of 10,361, and the other (ORFX) encoded 131 amino acid residues of the carboxyl-terminal region of a truncated polypeptide. The amino acid sequence deduced from the DNA sequence of nlp was highly homologous (62 to 63%) to the Ner proteins of bacteriophages Mu and D108. The amino-terminal region of Nlp deduced from the complete open reading frame contained a presumed DNA-binding region. The nlp gene was located at 69.3 min on the E. coli genetic map.     

Expression of pathogenesis-related genes in cotton roots in response to Verticillium dahliae PAMP molecules

VerticiUium wilt disease becomes a major threat to many economically important crops.It is unclear whether and how plant immunity takes place during cotton-Verticillium interaction due to the lack of marker genes.Taking advantage of cotton(Gossypium hirsutum) genome,we discovered pathogenesis-related(PR) gene families,which have been widely used as markers of immune responses in plants.To profile the expression of G.hirsutum PR genes in the process of plant immunity,we treated cotton roots with two immunogenic peptides,flg22 and nlp20 known as pathogen-associated molecular patterns,as well as three VerticiUium dahliae-derived peptides,nlp20~(Vd2),nlp23~(Vd3),and nlp23~(Vd4) which are highly identical to nlp20.Quantitative real-time PCR results revealed that 14 G hirsutum PR gene(GhPR) families were induced or suppressed independently in response to flg22,nlp20,nlp20~(Vd2),nlp23~(Vd3),and nlp23~(Vd4).Most GhPR genes are expressed highest at 3 h post incubation of immunogenic peptides.Compared to flg22 and nlp20,nlp20~(Vd2) is more effective to trigger up-regulated expression of GhPR genes.Notably,both nlp23~(Vd3) and nlp23~(Vd4) are able to induce GhPR gene up-regulation,although they do not induce necrosis on cotton leaves.Thus,our results provide marker genes and new immunogenic peptides for further investigation of cotton-V.dahliae interaction.     

cpmA, a Gene Involved in an Output Pathway of the Cyanobacterial Circadian System

We generated random mutations in Synechococcus sp. strain PCC 7942 to look for genes of output pathways in the cyanobacterial circadian system. A derivative of transposon Tn5 was introduced into the chromosomes of reporter strains in which cyanobacterial promoters drive the Vibrio harveyi luxAB genes and produce an oscillation of bioluminescence as a function of circadian gene expression. Among low-amplitude mutants, one mutant, tnp6, had an insertion in a 780-bp open reading frame. The tnp6 mutation produced an altered circadian phasing phenotype in the expression rhythms of psbAI::luxAB, psbAII::luxAB, and kaiA::luxAB but had no or little effect on those of psbAIII::luxAB, purF::luxAB, kaiB::luxAB, rpoD2::luxAB, ndhD::luxAB, and conII::luxAB. This suggests that the interrupted gene in tnp6, named cpmA (circadian phase modifier), is part of a circadian output pathway that regulates the expression rhythms of psbAI, psbAII, and kaiA.     

Iron-regulated phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase activity in Azotobacter vinelandii

Azotobacter vinelandii strain UA22 was produced by pTn5luxAB mutagenesis, such that the promoterless luxAB genes were transcribed in an iron-repressible manner. Tn5luxAB was localized to a fragment of chromosomal DNA encoding the thrS, infC, rpmI, rplT, pheS and pheT genes, with Tn5 inserted in the 3'-end of pheS. The isolation of this mutation in an essential gene was possible because of polyploidy in Azotobacter, such that strain UA22 carried both wild-type and mutant alleles of pheS. Phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase activity and PHES::luxAB reporter activity was partially repressed under iron-sufficient conditions and fully derepressed under iron-limited conditions. The ferric uptake regulator (Fur) bound to a DNA sequence immediately upstream of luxAB, within the pheS gene, but PHES::luxAB reporter activity was not affected by phenylalanine availability. This suggests there is novel regulation of pheST in A. vinelandii by iron availability.     

Identification of cold shock gene loci in Sinorhizobium meliloti by using a luxAB reporter transposon

Using a luxAB reporter transposon, seven mutants of Sinorhizobium meliloti were identified as containing insertions in four cold shock loci. LuxAB activity was strongly induced (25- to 160-fold) after a temperature shift from 30 to 15 degrees C. The transposon and flanking host DNA from each mutant was cloned, and the nucleic acid sequence of the insertion site was determined. Unexpectedly, five of the seven luxAB mutants contained transposon insertions in the 16S and 23S rRNA genes of two of the three rrn operons of S. meliloti. Directed insertion of luxAB genes into each of the three rrn operons revealed that all three operons were similarly affected by cold shock. Two other insertions were found to be located downstream of a homolog of the major Escherichia coli cold shock gene, cspA. Although the cold shock loci were highly induced in response to a shift to low temperature, none of the insertions resulted in a statistically significant decrease in growth rate at 15 degrees C.     

Improvement of the bioluminescence reporter system for real-time monitoring of circadian rhythms in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803

Circadian rhythm is a self-sustaining oscillation whose period length coincides with the 24-hour day-night cycle. A powerful tool for circadian clock research is the real-time automated bioluminescence monitoring system in which a promoter region of a clock-controlled gene is fused to a luciferase reporter gene and rhythmic regulation of the promoter activity is monitored as bioluminescence. In the present study, we greatly improved the bioluminescence reporter system in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803. We fused an 805-bp promoter region of the dnaK gene seamlessly to the luxA coding sequence and integrated the P(dnaK)::luxAB fusion gene into a specific intergenic region of the Synechocystis genome (targeting site 1). The resulting new reporter strain, PdnaK::luxAB(-), showed 12 times the bioluminescence intensity of the standard reporter strain, CFC2. Furthermore, we generated strain PdnaK::luxAB(+), in which the P(dnaK)::luxAB fusion gene and the selection-marker spectinomycin resistance gene are transcribed in opposite directions. The PdnaK::luxAB(+) strain showed 19 times the bioluminescence intensity of strain CFC2. The procedures used to increase the bioluminescence intensity are especially useful for bioluminescence monitoring of genes with low promoter activity. In addition, these reporter constructs facilitate bioluminescence monitoring of any gene because the promoter fragments they contain can easily be replaced by digestion with unique restriction enzymes. They would therefore contribute to a genome-wide analysis of gene expression in Synechocystis.     

用发光酶基因(luxAB)标记法研究慢生花生根瘤菌的竞争结瘤能力

luxAB基因标记是一种新型基因标记技术,在很多研究领域都有着良好的应用前景。研究通过三亲本杂交将luxAB基因成功地向慢生型花生根瘤菌进行了转移,并获得了一株带LuxAB基因标记的菌株Cspr7-1。对Cspr7-1进行性状、标记基因的遗传稳定性检测,结果表明,LuxAB基因不仅能有效表达,而且性状稳定。在无氮水培条件下进行标记菌株与土著根瘤菌的竞争结瘤试验。结果证实,Cspr7-1在植物根系上的占瘤率平均达到61.3％,比土著根瘤菌的竞争结瘤能力强,而且Cspr7-1在主根上的侵染能力远较侧根上的强,平均高出22.3％-39.6％。     

钝顶螺旋藻luxAB载体的构建

实验拟构建钝顶螺旋藻luxAB载体,为螺旋藻遗传转化操作系统的建立提供技术参考和支持。使用EcoRI和SmaI双酶切质粒pUCΩGUS,胶回收获得含有Ubil启动子基因及amp基因的载体大片段;根据质粒pRL1063a中luxAB基因的序列设计引物,以质粒pRL1063a为模板（SalI酶切）,PCR扩增luxAB基因片段;在T4 DNA连接酶的作用下将载体大片段和luxAB基因片段进行体外连接重组并转化感受态细胞,构建成新型质粒载体pUCΩluxAB。     

Gene Expression in Bacteria Directed by Plant-specific Regulatory Sequences

The regulation of gene expression represents a specific process which has different structural and functional requirements in different groups of organisms. It is thus assumed that regulatory sequences of eucaryotes cannot be recognized in procaryotes. This assumption is of interest for risk assessments of the environmental impact of deliberate release experiments with genetically modified organisms. In order to analyse the extent of heterologous gene expression caused by the transfer of plant-specific regulatory sequences into bacteria, we constructed fusions between plant-specific regulatory sequences and the coding regions of the luxAB genes for the luciferase of the bioluminescent bacterium Vibrio harveyi, transferred the fusions into different bacterial species and measured the luminescence to quantify the expression of the luciferase genes. The regulatory sequences investigated included (a) the 35S promoter of the Cauliflower mosaic virus, (b) the B33 promoter of a class I patatin gene of potatoes, (c) the promoter of the ST-LS1 gene of potatoes and (d) the promoter of the rolC gene of Agrobacterium rhizogenes. We could show that in addition to the 35S promoter, which has already been described as being recognized in Escherichia coli, the sequences containing the B33 and the ST-LS1 promoters are recognized in bacteria. Luciferase gene expression promoted by the sequence with the ST-LS1 promoter could be observed in E. coli, Yersinia enterocolitica and Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Comparison of the luminescence caused by fusions between luxAB and different promoters on the chromosome and on an endogenous plasmid of Y. enterocolitica demonstrated that the level of the heterologous gene expression caused by the fragment with the ST-LS1 promoter was within the range of gene expression levels caused by endogenous promoters of Y. enterocolitica.     

Identification and characterization of genetically programmed responses to toxic metal exposure in Escherichia coli

Abstract: In order to identify chromosomal genetically programmed responses to toxic metal exposure, a library of 3000 Escherichia coli clones was created that contained the promoterless luxAB genes of Vibrio harveyi inserted at single and random chromosomal loci. Changes in gene expression, as measured by a change in luminescence, were monitored after exposure of the clones to various metals. In this manner, we have identified two clones that showed an increase in luminescence in the presence of aluminum, one clone in the presence of nickel, and two clones in the presence of selenite. Identification of the metal-induced gene(s), and characterization of their biochemical function, will provide important clues about the effects of these metals at the molecular level.     

Nucleotide sequence and characterization of the sfs1 gene: sfs1 is involved in CRP*-dependent mal gene expression in Escherichia coli.

We have cloned at least 12 different Escherichia coli genes which enable strain MK2001 to use maltose. The genes were designated sfs1 through sfs12 (sugar fermentation stimulation). Previously, one (sfs7) of them was mapped at 65 min on the E. coli chromosome and identified as nlp, which has high homology to repressor protein (Ner) of Mu phage, which contains a putative DNA binding region (Y.-L. Choi, T. Nishida, M. Kawamukai, R. Utsumi, H. Sakai, and T. Komano, J. Bacteriol. 171:5222-5225, 1989). In this study, another gene (sfs1) located at 3.5 min was newly found and analyzed. The nucleotide sequence of sfs1 encoded a protein of 234 amino acids (molecular mass, 26,227 Da) which also has a putative DNA binding domain. Overexpression of the sfs1 gene in MK2001 resulted in a 10-fold increase of amylomaltase, which was still dependent on MalT. These results suggest that Sfs1 could be a new regulatory factor involved in maltose metabolism.     

Construction of mini-Tn10luxABcam/Ptac-ATS and its use for developing a bacteriophage that transduces bioluminescence to Escherichia coli O157:H7

Mini-Tn10luxABcam/Ptac-ATS was constructed in order to develop a luciferase-transducing bacteriophage for detecting Escherichia coli O157:H7. The transposon was designed to deliver a 3.6-kb insertion that confers n-decanal-dependent bioluminescence and resistance to chloramphenicol and was constructed using mini-Tn10cam/Ptac-ATS in the plasmid pNK2884 and luxAB from Vibrio harveyi. PhiV10, a temperate bacteriophage infecting common phage types of Escherichia coli O157:H7, was mutagenized as a prophage in E. coli O157:H7 strain R508. PhiV10::luxABcamA1-23 was rescued from the strain by propagating it on a strain lacking the bacteriophage and the vector containing the transposon. The bacteriophage transduced n-decanal-dependent bioluminescence to E. coli O157:H7 strain R508 that was measurable approximately 1 h post infection.