Studying recombination in heterozygous tandem duplications in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Escherichia coli</Emphasis>

Our previous data showed that the principal pathway of the formation of selected recombinants in Escherichia coli strains carrying heterozygous tandem duplications is unequal crossing over between sister chromosomes. Data presented in this work showed that when DNA homology is not disturbed (due to transposon insertion), intragenic recombinants can occur directly in the region of recombination through intrachromomal exchange as well.     

Interaction of cholesterol, phospholipid and apoprotein in high density lipoprotein recombinants.

To examine the effect of incorporation of cholesterol into high density lipoprotein (HDL) recombinants, multilamellar liposomes of 3H cholesterol/14C dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine were incubated with the total apoprotein (apoHDL) and principal apoproteins (apoA-1 and apoA-2) of human plasma high density lipoprotein. Soluble recombinants were separated from unreacted liposomes by centrifugation and examined by differential scanning calorimetry and negative stain electron microscopy. At 27 degrees C, liposomes containing up to approx. 0.1 mol cholesterol/mol dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine (DMPC) were readily solubilized by apoHDL, apoA-1 or apoA-2. However, the incorporation of DMPC and apoprotein into lipoprotein complexes was markedly reduced when liposomes containing a higher proportion of cholesterol were used. For recombinants prepared from apoHDL, apoA-1, or apoA-2, the equilibrium cholesterol content of complexes was approx. 45% that of the unreacted liposomes. Electron microscopy showed that for all cholesterol concentrations, HDL recombinants were predominantly lipid bilayer discs, approx. 160 X 55 A. Differential scanning calorimetry of cholesterol containing recombinants of DMPC/cholesterol/apoHDL or DMPC/cholesterol/apoA-1 showed, with increasing cholesterol content, a linear decrease in the enthalpy of the DMPC gel to liquid crystalline transition, extrapolating to zero enthalpy at 0.15 cholesterol/DMPC. The enthalpy values were markedly reduced compared to control liposomes, where the phospholipid transition extrapolated to zero enthalpy at approx. 0.45 cholesterol/DMPC. The calorimetric and solubility studies suggest that in high density lipoprotein recombinants cholesterol is excluded from 55% of DMPC molecules bound in a non-melting state by apoprotein.     

Bacterial protoplast fusion: recombination in fused protoplasts of Streptomyces coelicolor

Summary Numerous recombinants arose when protoplasts of S. coelicolor were treated with polyethylene glycol and regenerated on non-selective solid medium. In six-factor crosses, recombination frequencies of more than 10% (up to 17%) were routinely observed. This recombination did not require either of the known sex factors, SCP1 and SCP2.The proportion of multiple crossover classes was much higher than amongst recombinants produced by conjugation between mycelia. Analysis of the spatial distribution of crossovers in double and quadruple crossover recombinants showed only a slight tendency for crossovers to occur closer together than randomly on the complete linkage group. This suggests that genomes brought together by protoplast fusion are complete, or nearly so (in conjugation, in contrast, one genome is represented by a comparatively short fragment). Individual colonies arising from fused protoplasts did not contain different parental genomes without recombinants, but recombinants often occurred without parentals. Several recombinant genotypes often occurred in the same colony, showing a segregation of some, only, of the parental alleles. Complementary genotypes, parental or recombinant, did not occur in the same colony. It is postulated that complete genomes of fused protoplasts usually become fragmented and that crossing-over, often repeated, occurs between the fragments, to generate haploid recombinants.Analysis of fusions between protoplasts of four different genotypes indicated that the average number of protoplasts fusing together was low, but nevertheless appreciable numbers of fusions involved three or four genomes. Crossing-over between them produced recombinants inheriting markers from three or four parents.The generation of nearly random populations of recombinants between two or more parent strains by protoplast fusion under the conditions described appears to have simple applications in industrial and academic strain construction.     

Incorporation of the human erythrocyte sialoglycoprotein into recombined membranes containing cholesterol

Summary Glycophorin, the major sialoglycoprotein from the human erythrocyte membrane, has been isolated and recombined with phosphatidylcholine and cholesterol. Sucrose density gradient analysis of the recombinants shows that it is possible not only to recombine this protein with phospholipid, but also with phospholipid-cholesterol mixtures. Surprisingly, by the same analysis, it was possible to make a recombinant with cholesterol and glycophorin, only, in the absence of added phospholipid. The accessibility of the protein to trypsin was tested in each of these recombinants. In all the recombinants which contained either phospholipid, or phospholipid and cholesterol, the protein was protected from extensive hydrolysis. This is consistent with closed vesicles and incorporation of the protein into the recombinant membrane. Extensive hydrolysis of the protein occurred in the cholesterol-glycophorin recombinant indicating some differences in structure. Freeze-fracture electron microscopy of the phospholipid and the phospholipid-cholesterol recombinants showed mostly unilamellar vesicles, 1000 to 5000 Å in diameter. Intramembranous particles were observed on both fracture faces, and the fracture planes were those expected for phospholipid bilayers. The glycophorin-cholesterol recombinants also showed fracture planes consistent with bilayers, and revealed intramembranous particles. Pieces of membrane-like structures as well as apparent vesicular structures were observed. Finally in the recombinants of glycophorin with phospholipid and cholesterol, cholesterol is shown to reduce the population of the motionally restricted phospholipid headgroup environment, in proportion to the mole percent cholesterol content.     

Recombination among genes at the L group in flax conferring resistance to rust

Summary Fourteen of the known genes conferring resistance to rust in flax occur in the L group, and recombinational analysis has been used to study their fine structure. Three important features were observed. (a) Similar to the findings of Shepherd and Mayo, only susceptible recombinants were detected among the testcross progeny of 11 of the 15 heterozygotes involving pairs of L genes. Some of these recombinants showed variation in the degree of their susceptibility and appeared to be unstable in nature. (b) A new class of recombinants exhibiting a modified type of resistance was recovered. They occurred rarely but consistently, with frequencies similar to that of susceptible recombinants. (c) Rare resistant plants occurred among the progeny of susceptible recombinants. In each case, the specificity of the resistant plant corresponded to only one of the parental types. The relative roles of seed contamination, mutation, recombination and the transposition of genetic elements are discussed to account for these features.     

Interaction of cholesterol,phospholipid and apoprotein in high density lipoprotein recombinants

To examine the effect of incorporation of cholesterol into high density lipoprotein (HDL) recombinants, multilamellar liposomes of ³H cholesterol/¹⁴C dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine were incubated with the total apoprotein (apoHDL) and principal apoproteins (apoA-1 and apoA-2) of human plasma high density lipoprotein. Soluble recombinants were separated from unreacted liposomes by centrifugation and examined by differential scanning calorimetry and negative stain electron microscopy. At 27°C, liposomes containing up to approx. 0.1 mol cholesterol/mol dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine (DMPC) were readily solubilized by apoHDL, apoA-1 or apoA-2. However, the incorporation of DMPC and apoprotein into lipoprotein complexes was markedly reduced when liposomes containing a higher proportion of cholesterol were used. For recombinants prepared from apoHDL, apoA-1 or apoA-2, the equilibrium cholesterol content of complexes was approx. 45% that of the unreacted liposomes. Electron microscopy showed that for all cholesterol concentrations, HDL recombinants were predominantly lipid bilayer discs, approx. $\text{160 × 55}\text{A}\text{?}$. Differential scanning calorimetry of cholesterol containing recombinants of DMPC/cholesterol/apoHDL or DMPC/cholesterol/apoA-1 showed, with increasing cholesterol content, a linear decrease in the enthalpy of the DMPC gel to liquid crystalline transition, extrapolating to zero enthalpy at 0.15 cholesterol/DMPC. The enthalpy values were markedly reduced compared to control liposomes, where the phospholipid transition extrapolated to zero enthalpy at approx. 0.45 cholesterol/DMPC. The calorimetric and solubility studies suggest that in high density lipoprotein recombinants cholesterol is excluded from 55% of DMPC molecules bound in a non-melting state by apoprotein.     

Anatomy of Herpes Simplex Virus DNA. IX. Apparent Exclusion of Some Parental DNA Arrangements in the Generation of Intertypic (HSV-1 × HSV-2) Recombinants

We are reporting the physical location of parental DNA sequences in 28 recombinants produced by crossing herpes simplex viruses (HSV) 1 and 2. The parental crosses were of two kinds. In the first, temperature-sensitive mutants of HSV-1 and HSV-2 were crossed to produce wild-type recombinants. In the second, temperature-sensitive mutants of HSV-1 rendered resistant to phosphonoacetic acid were crossed with wild-type HSV-2, and recombinants that multiplied at nonpermissive temperature and were resistant to the drug were selected. The DNAs of the recombinants were mapped with XbaI, EcoRI, HpaI, HsuI, BglII, and, in some instances, KpnI restriction endonucleases. The results were as follows. (i) We established the colinear arrangements of HSV-1 and HSV-2 DNAs. (ii) There was extensive interchange of genomic regions, ranging from the exchange or the entire L of S component of HSV DNA to substitutions of regions within the same component. In some recombinants, the reiterated sequences ab and ac bracketing the L and S components of HSV DNA were heterotypic. Most recombinants grew well and showed no obvious defects. (iii) The number of crossover events ranged from one to as many as six. Although crossover events occurred throughout the DNA, some clustering of crossover events was observed. (iv) Analysis of recombinants permitted localization of several markers used in this study and appears to be a useful technique for marker mapping. (v) As previously reported, HSV DNA consists of four populations, differing in relative orientation of the L and S components. All recombinants could be displayed in one arrangement of L and S such that the number of crossover events was minimized. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that only one arrangement of the parental DNA participates in the generation of recombinants.     

Amino acid substitutions in GyrA of Burkholderia glumae are implicated in not only oxolinic acid resistance but also fitness on rice plants

Oxolinic acid (OA) resistance in field isolates of Burkholderia glumae, a causal agent of bacterial grain rot, is dependent on an amino acid substitution at position 83 in GyrA (GyrA83). In the present study, among spontaneous in vitro mutants from the OA-sensitive B. glumae strain Pg-10, we selected OA-resistant mutants that emerged at a rate of 5.7 x 10(-10). Nucleotide sequence analysis of the quinolone resistance-determining region in GyrA showed that Gly81Cys, Gly81Asp, Asp82Gly, Ser83Arg, Asp87Gly, and Asp87Asn are observed in these OA-resistant mutants. The introduction of each amino acid substitution into Pg-10 resulted in OA resistance, similar to what was observed for mutants with the responsible amino acid substitution. In vitro growth of recombinants with Asp82Gly was delayed significantly compared to that of Pg-10; however, that of the other recombinants did not differ significantly. The inoculation of each recombinant into rice spikelets did not result in disease. In inoculated rice spikelets, recombinants with Ser83Arg grew less than Pg-10 during flowering, and growth of the other recombinants was reduced significantly. On the other hand, the reduced growth of recombinants with Ser83Arg in spikelets was compensated for under OA treatment, resulting in disease. These results suggest that amino acid substitutions in GyrA of B. glumae are implicated in not only OA resistance but also fitness on rice plants. Therefore, GyrA83 substitution is thought to be responsible for OA resistance in B. glumae field isolates.     

Genomic variability among high pristinamycin-producing recombinants of Streptomyces pristinaespiralis revealed by amplified fragment length polymorphism

Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) was used to analyze genomic variability between high pristinamycin-producing recombinants of Streptomyces pristinaespiralis produced by genome shuffling and their ancestral strain. The AFLP fingerprints obtained with two restriction enzyme combinations of ApaI/TaqI and PstI/SacII showed together that there was no major polymorphism (less than 10%) between these high yield recombinants and their ancestor. However, the unique polymorphic bands, which might be related to the yield increasing of pristinamycin, could be distinguished from all the recombinants. Clustering analysis further indicated that the recombinants with similar ability of pristinamycin production had similar genomic variability.     

Intergeneric crosses betweenStreptomyces ambofaciens andSaccharopolyspora erythraea

Upon crossing between auxotrophic mutants ofSaccharopolyspora erythraea andStreptomyces ambofaciens blocked in erythromycin and spiramycin biosynthesis, respectively, two types of recombinant colonies appeared on minimal medium—haploid recombinants and heteroclones. Based on morphological characteristics, the recombinants were grouped into three morphological types. Eight recombinants showed antibiotic activity in different parental combinations. In addition, seven of the recombinants produced a new antibiotic.     

T4 DNA polymerase (gene 43) is required in vivo for repair of gaps in recombinants.

Experiments with a mutant of T4, tsL97, temperature sensitive for gene 43, showed that T4 DNA polymerase was necessary in vivo to repair gaps in recombinant molecules. CsCl density gradient experiments showed that molecular recombinants were not repaired when the T4tsL97-infected cells were shifted to 42 C after replication and recombination had taken place. Repair was almost complete when the same procedure was followed with the wild-type T4, or when the T4tsL97-infected cells were incubated at the permissive temperature, 36 C. Long-single-strand production was also affected similarly by the T4tsL97 mutation. All the results were consistent with the theory that gaps exist in many recombinant molecules at the recombinant joint, that T4 DNA polymerase is the enzyme that repairs these gaps in vivo, and that covalent repair of the recombinants leads to extensive long-single-strand production.     

Induction of functional cytodifferentiation in the epithelium of tissue recombinants. II. Instructive induction of Wolffian duct epithelia by neonatal seminal vesicle mesenchyme

When grown as renal grafts in adult male hosts, the upper (cranial), middle and lower (caudal) portions of fetal mouse and rat Wolffian ducts developed into epididymis, epididymis plus ductus deferens, and seminal vesicle, respectively. In heterotypic tissue recombinants, the epithelia from upper and middle Wolffian ducts were instructively induced to undergo seminal vesicle morphogenesis by neonatal seminal vesicle mesenchyme. Functional cytodifferentiation was examined in these recombinants using antibodies against major androgen-dependent, seminal vesicle-specific secretory proteins. The instructively induced Wolffian duct epithelia synthesized normal amounts of all of the secretory proteins characteristic of mature seminal vesicles, as judged by immunocytochemistry on tissue sections and gel electrophoresis plus immunoblotting of secretions extracted from the recombinants. In heterospecific recombinants composed of rat and mouse tissues, the seminal vesicle proteins induced were specific for the species that had provided the epithelium. This showed that the seminal vesicle epithelium in the recombinants was derived from instructively induced Wolffian duct epithelium and not from epithelial contamination of the mesenchymal inductor. Upper Wolffian duct epithelium, instructively induced to undergo seminal vesicle morphogenesis, did not express epididymis-specific secretory proteins, showing that its normal development had been simultaneously repressed.     

Mechanism of conjugation and recombination in bacteria. XXI. Role of F factor genes in post-conjugational recombination in Escherichia coli K-12

Temperature sensitive dnaA recipient crossed at the restrictive temperature with HfrH, free from contaminating F+ cells, forms recombinants almost as proficiently as at the permissive temperature. The merozygotes are able to synthesize DNA at 42 degrees C, although the recipient and donor cells do not incorporate 3H-thymine. A substantial fraction of Lac+ recombinants, irrespective of the mating temperature, is temperature resistant (42 C-R); 15% from among those mated at 35 C and 30% from those mated at 42 C. The presence of dnaA mutation in these Lac+ 42 C-R recombinants was ascertained by co-transduction with ilv. Cell division at 42 C is inhibited in the Lac 42 C-R recombinants by acridine orange. The presence of F factor DNA in these recombinants was demonstrated directly by DNA: DNA hybridization. Suppression of dnaA mutation in Lac+ 42 degrees C-R recombinants and their sensitivity to acridine orange at 42 degrees C suggests that at least part of the F factor is integrated into the recombinant chromosome. A large fraction of the Lac+ 42 degrees C-R recombinants (up to 80%) is sensitive to male phage R17 and fertile. In crosses with HfrC there is a marked decrease of recombination frequency at 42 degrees C in the dnaA recipient. The fraction of Lac+ 42 degrees C-R recombinants is low (up to 10%) and the 42 degrees C-R recombinants are neither sensitive to male phage nor fertile. The results are discussed on the basis of the previously proposed model of post-conjugational recombination.     

Recombination-induced suppression of cell division following P1-mediated generalized transduction in Klebsiella aerogenes

Klebsiella aerogenes recombinants resulting from bacteriophage P1-mediated generalized transduction failed to increase in number for approximately six generations after transduction. Nevertheless these recombinants continued to grow and became sensitive to penicillin after a transient resistance, suggesting that the cells were growing as long, non-dividing filaments. When filamentous cells were isolated from transduced cultures by gradient centrifugation, recombinants were 1000-fold more frequent among the filaments than among the normal-sized cells. The suppression of cell-division lasted for six generations whether markers near the origin (gln, ilv) or terminus (his, trp) of chromosome replication were used, despite a 50-fold difference in transduction frequencies for these markers. The suppression of cell division was a host response to recombination rather than to P1 invasion since cells lysogenized by P1 in these same experiments showed only a short (two generation) suppression of cell division. We speculate that the suppression of cell-division is an SOS response triggered by the degraded DNA not incorporated in the final recombinant. We demonstrate that both the filamentation and the transient penicillin resistance of recombinant cells can be exploited to enrich greatly for recombinants, raising transduction frequencies to as high as 10(-3).     

Perturbations of phospholipid head groups by membrane proteins in biological membranes and recombinants.

P-31 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spin-lattice relaxation times (T1) have been used to probe the behavior of phospholipid head groups in the presence of membrane proteins. Measurements have been made on rabbit muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum and recombinants of the Ca2+ Mg2+ ATPase, rod outer segment disk membranes and recombinants of rhodopsin, and human erythrocyte ghosts and recombinants of human erythrocyte glycophorin. Recombined membranes with lipid/protein ratios greater than or equal to that found in biological membranes showed T1 behavior similar to the biological membranes and pure phosphatidylcholine. However, recombined membranes with a low lipid/protein ratio exhibited a T1 that was dramatically shorter than any of the other systems. Analysis of the relaxation mechanism and the factors contributing to it implicate a phospholipid head group conformation change at high protein content. It is suggested that this is due to trapping of phospholipid between proteins and is not the same phenomenon as motional restriction at the lipid-protein interface at higher lipid contents.     

Amino Acid Substitutions in GyrA of Burkholderia glumae Are Implicated in Not Only Oxolinic Acid Resistance but Also Fitness on Rice Plants

Oxolinic acid (OA) resistance in field isolates of Burkholderia glumae, a causal agent of bacterial grain rot, is dependent on an amino acid substitution at position 83 in GyrA (GyrA83). In the present study, among spontaneous in vitro mutants from the OA-sensitive B. glumae strain Pg-10, we selected OA-resistant mutants that emerged at a rate of 5.7 × 10⁻¹⁰. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the quinolone resistance-determining region in GyrA showed that Gly81Cys, Gly81Asp, Asp82Gly, Ser83Arg, Asp87Gly, and Asp87Asn are observed in these OA-resistant mutants. The introduction of each amino acid substitution into Pg-10 resulted in OA resistance, similar to what was observed for mutants with the responsible amino acid substitution. In vitro growth of recombinants with Asp82Gly was delayed significantly compared to that of Pg-10; however, that of the other recombinants did not differ significantly. The inoculation of each recombinant into rice spikelets did not result in disease. In inoculated rice spikelets, recombinants with Ser83Arg grew less than Pg-10 during flowering, and growth of the other recombinants was reduced significantly. On the other hand, the reduced growth of recombinants with Ser83Arg in spikelets was compensated for under OA treatment, resulting in disease. These results suggest that amino acid substitutions in GyrA of B. glumae are implicated in not only OA resistance but also fitness on rice plants. Therefore, GyrA83 substitution is thought to be responsible for OA resistance in B. glumae field isolates.     

Genetic analysis of the cholera toxin-positive regulatory gene toxR.

Southern blot analysis with a toxR-specific gene probe indicates that Vibrio cholerae 569B has a 1.2-kilobase deletion near the toxR gene. Heterologous conjugative crosses were carried out between the EI Tor strain RV79 and 569B tox mutants. Tox+ recombinants showed the same linkage properties to the his locus as to the previously mapped tox locus of 569B. Southern blot analysis with the toxR probe of the Tox+ recombinants obtained in these heterologous crosses showed that these recombinants had replaced the V. cholerae 569B (recipient) toxR DNA with the V. cholerae RV79 (donor) toxR DNA, indicating that tox and toxR are the same locus. However, the Tox+ recombinants synthesized an amount of toxin intermediate between the level observed for wild-type RV79 and 569B strains, suggesting there is a difference in the ability of toxR genes from different strains to activate ctx. About half of the mutations which suppress the phenotype of hypertoxinogenic locus htx are unlinked to htx and in addition have a hypotoxinogenic phenotype relative to that of the wild type. Most of these hypotoxinogenic, second-site suppressors show a linkage to his similar to the linkage of toxR to his and are therefore probably mutations in toxR. These results indicate that the toxR gene product is required for ctx expression and that a functional toxR gene is required for the effect of an htx mutation to be seen.     

Synthesis-dependent strand annealing in meiosis

Recent studies led to the proposal that meiotic gene conversion can result after transient engagement of the donor chromatid and subsequent DNA synthesis-dependent strand annealing (SDSA). Double Holliday junction (dHJ) intermediates were previously proposed to form both reciprocal crossover recombinants (COs) and noncrossover recombinants (NCOs); however, dHJs are now thought to give rise mainly to COs, with SDSA forming most or all NCOs. To test this model in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we constructed a random spore system in which it is possible to identify a subset of NCO recombinants that can readily be accounted for by SDSA, but not by dHJ-mediated recombination. The diagnostic class of recombinants is one in which two markers on opposite sides of a double-strand break site are converted, without conversion of an intervening heterologous insertion located on the donor chromatid. This diagnostic class represents 26% of selected NCO recombinants. Tetrad analysis using the same markers provided additional evidence that SDSA is a major pathway for NCO gene conversion in meiosis.     

利用PCR对PVX外壳蛋白基因进行同义密码子修饰

利用聚合酶链式反应 (PolymeraseChainReaction ,PCR)与限制性内切酶相结合的方法 ,设计 4条含有限制性酶切位点和相应突变的引物。以马铃薯X病毒 (PotatoVirusX ,PVX)外壳蛋白cp基因为模板 ,扩增出相应的片段 ,相应酶切后通过三片段连接构建到克隆载体pBlueKS( / - )上。随机挑选重组子测序表明 ,利用三片段拼接成功地在PVX外壳蛋白基因的不同部位产生了突变。实验结果说明利用三片段接可以大大提高筛选得到突变子的效率 ,从而节省人力、物力和时间。