Autoinhibition of Bacteriophage T4 Mre11 by Its C-terminal Domain

Mre11 and Rad50 form a stable complex (MR) and work cooperatively in repairing DNA double strand breaks. In the bacteriophage T4, Rad50 (gene product 46) enhances the nuclease activity of Mre11 (gene product 47), and Mre11 and DNA in combination stimulate the ATPase activity of Rad50. The structural basis for the cross-activation of the MR complex has been elusive. Various crystal structures of the MR complex display limited protein-protein interfaces that mainly exist between the C terminus of Mre11 and the coiled-coil domain of Rad50. To test the role of the C-terminal Rad50 binding domain (RBD) in Mre11 activation, we constructed a series of C-terminal deletions and mutations in bacteriophage T4 Mre11. Deletion of the RBD in Mre11 eliminates Rad50 binding but only has moderate effect on its intrinsic nuclease activity; however, the additional deletion of the highly acidic flexible linker that lies between RBD and the main body of Mre11 increases the nuclease activity of Mre11 by 20-fold. Replacement of the acidic residues in the flexible linker with alanine elevates the Mre11 activity to the level of the MR complex when combined with deletion of RBD. Nuclease activity kinetics indicate that Rad50 association and deletion of the C terminus of Mre11 both enhance DNA substrate binding. Additionally, a short peptide that contains the flexible linker and RBD of Mre11 acts as an inhibitor of Mre11 nuclease activity. These results support a model where the Mre11 RBD and linker domain act as an autoinhibitory domain when not in complex with Rad50. Complex formation with Rad50 alleviates this inhibition due to the tight association of the RBD and the Rad50 coiled-coil.     

Genetic Mapping of the Amino-Terminal Domain of Bacteriophage T4 DNA Polymerase

The DNA polymerase of bacteriophage T4 is a multifunctional enzyme that harbors DNA-binding, DNA-synthesizing and exonucleolytic activities. We have cloned in bacterial plasmids about 99% of the structural gene for this enzyme (T4 gene 43). The gene was cloned in six contiguous 5'-terminal DNA fragments that defined seven intragenic mapping regions. Escherichia coli hosts harboring recombinant plasmids carrying the gene 43 subsegments were used in marker-rescue experiments that assigned a large number of ts and nonsense polymerase mutations to different physical domains of the structural gene. Conspicuously, only one missense mutation in a large collection of mutants mapped in the 5'-terminal 450 base-pair segment of the approximately 2700 base-pair gene. To test if this indicated a DNA polymerase domain that is relatively noncritical for biological activity, we mutagenized a recombinant plasmid carrying this 5'-terminal region and generated new conditional-lethal mutations that mapped therein. We identified five new ts sites, some having mutated at high frequency (nitrosoguanidine hot spots). New ts mutations were also isolated in phage genes 62 and 44, which map upstream of gene 43 on the T4 chromosome. A preliminary examination of physiological consequences of the ts gene 43 mutations showed that they exhibit effects similar to those of ts lesions that map in other gene 43 segments: some were mutators, some derepressed gene 43 protein synthesis and they varied in the severity of their effects on T4-induced DNA synthesis at nonpermissive temperatures. The availability of the gene 43 clones should make it possible to isolate a variety of lesions that affect different activities of the T4 DNA polymerase and help to define the different domains of this multifunctional protein.     

Functional Role of the N-Terminal Domain of Bacteriophage T4-Gene Product 11

Bacteriophage T4 late gene product 11 (gp11), the three-dimensional structure of which has been solved by us to 2.0 A resolution, is a part of the virus' baseplate. The gp11 polypeptide chain consists of 219 amino acid residues and the functionally active protein is a three-domain homotrimer. In this work, we have studied the role of gp11 N-terminal domain in the formation of a functionally active trimer. Deletion variants of gp11 and monoclonal antibodies recognizing the native conformation of gp11 trimer have been selected. Long deletions up to a complete removal of the N-terminal domain, containing 64 residues, do not affect the gp11 trimerization, but considerably change the protein structure and lead to the loss of its ability to incorporate into the baseplate. However, the deletion of the first 17 N-terminal residues results in functionally active protein that can complete the 11(-)-defective phage particles in in vitro complementation assay. This region of the polypeptide chain is probably essential for gp11-gp10 stable complex formation at the early stages of phage baseplate assembly in vivo. A study of the gp10 deletion variants suggests that the central domain of gp10 trimer is responsible for the interaction with gp11.     

Cadaverine in Bacteriophage T4

Cadaverine was found in bacteriophage T4 when the host cells of Escherichia coli K-12 were grown in complex media and aerated by agitation. Only traces of cadaverine were found if the host was grown and agitated in synthetic medium or was aerated by vigorous bubbling in a complex medium. When the host cells were grown anaerobically in a complex medium, cadaverine became the major polyamine in the progeny phage. The polyamine content comprised 80% cadaverine, 14% spermidine (or its recently discovered homologue, N-3-aminopropyl-1, 5-diaminopentane), and the remainder putrescine. The conditions that favored appearance of cadaverine are known to be required for induction of lysine decarboxylase. It was shown that lysine was the sole source of bacterial cadaverine.     

Escherichia coli Mutants Permissive for T4 Bacteriophage with Deletion in e Gene (Phage Lysozyme)

Escherichia coli mutants have been isolated that are permissive for the infection by T4 phage with deletion in the cistron for the phage lysozyme, the e gene. Some, but not all, of these mutants are simultaneously permissive for the infection by T4 phage defective in the t gene, the product of which has also been implicated in the release of progeny phages. Most of these mutants shared the following properties: temperature sensitivity in growth and cell division, increased sensitivity towards a number of unrelated antibiotics and colicins, and increased sensitivity towards anionic detergents (sodium dodecyl sulfate and sodium deoxycholate). The possible biochemical basis for these phenotypes is discussed.     

工程菌噬菌体T7溶菌酶的纯化和性质

用崔道珊等构建的噬菌体T7溶菌酶工程菌株,培养物经超声破碎和DE52,CM52柱层析纯化,我们得到电泳纯的T7溶菌酶,分子量为17000,最适反应pH为8.0.其热稳定性欠佳,保温37℃,5min即丧失酶活21%.     

Gamma-Ray Mutagenesis in Bacteriophage T4

137Cs-gamma irradiation of bacteriophage T4 induces large deletions plus a variety of types of point mutations. All mutations arise with single-hit kinetics, and all by a misrepair process. The estimated point mutation rate is 1.5 X 10(-9) per locus per rad.     

Thymineless Mutagenesis in Bacteriophage T4

Thymine deprivation can be achieved in bacteriophage T4 either by the use of the thymidylate synthetase inhibitor FUdR, or by an appropriate combination of genetic blocks; both methods produce marked mutagenesis. Extensive tests of the specificity of thymineless mutagenesis reveal that only A:T base pairs are affected, and that transitions and possibly transversions are produced. This system therefore constitutes the first example of an A:T-specific mutagen. Thymineless mutagenesis in bacteriophage T4 exhibits a marked dependence upon the functional state of the DNA polymerase gene, but is largely independent of the px-y misrepair system.     

Misrepair Mutagenesis in Bacteriophage T4

The T4 mutations px, y and 1206 inactivate an error-prone recombination-like repair system, reducing or abolishing mutagenesis by UV irradiation, MMS, and white light irradiation in the presence of the photosensitizer 8MOP. Both px and y increase some spontaneous mutation rates and slightly enhance proflavin mutagenesis; neither mutation affects thymineless or 2AP mutagenesis appreciably, but both mildly enhance 5BU mutagenesis. The mutation hm promotes UV, MMS, photodynamic, thymineless, and base analog mutagenesis, in addition to spontaneous base pair substitution mutation. It does not, however, markedly affect proflavin mutagenesis. The px mutation maps in the vicinity of genes 41-56, and the hm mutation maps in the vicinity of genes rI-v.     

Multiple-Tailed T4 Bacteriophage.

Smith, Kendall O. (Baylor University College of Medicine, Houston, Tex.), and Melvin Trousdale. Multiple-tailed T4 bacteriophage. J. Bacteriol. 90:796-802. 1965.-T4 phage particles which appeared to have multiple-tails were observed. Experiments were designed to minimize the possibility that superimposed particles might account for this appearance. Double-tailed particles occurred at a frequency as high as 10%. Triple- and quadruple-tailed particles were extremely rare. All attempts to isolate pure lines of multiple-tailed phage have failed. Multiple-tailed phage particles were produced in highest frequency by Escherichia coli cells in the logarithmic growth phase which had been inoculated at a multiplicity of about 2.     

Methyl Methanesulfonate Mutagenesis in Bacteriophage T4

MMS induces diverse rII mutations from a wild-type background in bacteriophage T4. About 56% are base pair substitutions, about 30% are frameshift mutations, and the remainder is a miscellaneous set of rapidly reverting or leaky mutants of unknown composition; but deletions were not detected. MMS-induced forward mutation is sharply reduced by the mutations px and y, which also reduce ultraviolet, photodynamic and γ-ray mutagenesis and increase killing by all of these agents. Thus, many of the mutations arise via the T4 WXY system. The induction of G:C → A:T transitions was detected even in a px or y background using sensitive reversion tests, and the few forward rII mutations that were induced from this background also behaved like transition mutations. Thus, some MMS-induced mutations arise independently of the WXY system, perhaps as a result of the (rather weak) ability of MMS to alkylate the O⁶ position of guanine.