Transfer functions of the Streptococcus faecalis plasmid pAD1: organization of plasmid DNA encoding response to sex pheromone.

The conjugative plasmid pAD1 (59.6 kilobases) of Streptococcus faecalis shows a 10,000-fold increase in transfer frequency following induction by the sex pheromone cAD1. Mutagenesis of the plasmid with transposon Tn917 was undertaken to determine the region(s) of pAD1 required for the mating response. The relevant genetic material was found to be distributed over a 31.2-kilobase contiguous region of the plasmid. Although insertions in two previously identified regions (traA and traB) exhibited increased transfer frequencies, insertions in five new regions (D, E, F, G, and H) decreased the ability of pAD1 to transfer. Insertions in region H allowed the cells to form visible mating aggregates, but the plasmid transfer frequency was decreased to levels below detection during a 1-h broth mating. Mutants with mutations in region G were able to form aggregates; however, insertions in regions D, E, and F prevented aggregate formation. Insertions in region C decreased the sensitivity of the cell to exogenous cAD1 and exhibited increased activity of the pheromone inhibitor iAD1. Surface protein profiles produced by a number of these mutants were examined, and in some cases were found to be different from those of the wild type. A map showing the various regions is presented, and related aspects of the regulation of the pAD1 mating response are discussed.     

Contraction of filaments of Escherichia coli after disruption of cell membrane by detergent.

The osmotic pressure within a living bacterium creates stresses in the peptidoglycan that stretch the sacculus. We measured the amount of stretch by monitoring the shrinkage of growing cells of Escherichia coli after removal of the osmotic pressure by disruption of the phospholipid membranes with sodium dodecyl sulfate. Because the rods of the wild type are so short, length changes of filaments of longer than 7 microns were measured on phase-contrast micrographs. The filaments were prepared by growing ftsA and ftsI strains under permissive conditions in rich medium and then shifting them to 42 degrees C for 40 to 180 min. During this time, the mutant cells became elongated but did not divide. The growing filaments were mounted on a glass surface that had been treated with poly-L-lysine or RNase. The filaments were photographed before being treated with sodium dodecyl sulfate. The filaments were rephotographed at the time when the first change in phase contrast was noted. Some filaments were also measured at 10-min time intervals from 0 to 60 min. The reduction in phase contrast signaled the leakage of solutes and the loss of turgor pressure. The average length of the filaments decreased 17%. If the circumference were stretched to the same degree, then the surface area in vivo would be 45% greater than in the relaxed state. For comparison, a fully cross-linked monolayer of E. coli peptidoglycan in its most compact conformation could stretch up to 300% in achieving the most extended conformation possible without splitting covalent bonds.     

Identification of flagellar hook and basal body gene products (FlaFV, FlaFVI, FlaFVII and FlaFVIII) in Salmonella typhimurium.

The flagellar genes flaFV, flaFVII, and flaFVIII of Salmonella typhimurium were cloned, and their presence on a given plasmid was verified by complementation of Escherichia coli mutants defective in the homologous genes. The gene products were identified by radiolabeling in a minicell system as being proteins of the following molecular masses: FlaFV, 42 kilodaltons (kDa); FlaFVI, 32 kDa; FlaFVII, 30 kDA; and FlaFVIII, 27 kDa. These data, together with isoelectric focusing data, confirm gene product assignments of flagellar components made indirectly from mutant studies. Flagellar components are transported by either a signal peptide-dependent or a flagellar-specific pathway. Consistent with its location in the outer membrane ring of the basal body, protein FlaFVIII seems to use the signal peptide-dependent pathway, since it was synthesized in a precursor form and processed, presumably by peptide cleavage, to a mature form; the maturation process was inhibited by addition of a proton ionophore. Proteins synthesized in minicells were localized as follows: FlaFVI was localized to the soluble fraction (cytoplasm); pre-FlaFVIII and FlaFVIII were localized to the particulate fraction (membrane or high-molecular-weight aggregate); FlaFV and FlaFVII were localized to both fractions. The significance of these locations in terms of known or suspected roles in the flagellar apparatus is discussed.     

LiCl treatment releases a nickase implicated in genetic transformation of Streptococcus pneumoniae.

When cells competent for genetic transformation of Streptococcus pneumoniae which could bind and enable entry of extracellular DNA molecules were treated with LiCl, they released a nickase that introduced nicks into a double-stranded DNA in the presence of EDTA. The nickase was specific for competent cells and coupled with DNA-binding activity. Furthermore, when noncompetent cells were treated with LiCl, they released the putative receptors for the competence activator.     

Cloning and nucleotide sequence of the penicillinase antirepressor gene penJ of Bacillus licheniformis.

The penicillinase antirepressor gene, penJ, of Bacillus licheniformis ATCC 9945a was cloned in Escherichia coli by using pMB9 as a vector plasmid. The penicillinase gene, penP, its repressor gene, penI, and penJ were encoded on the cloned 5.2-kilobase HindIII fragment of the recombinant plasmid pTTE71. The penJ open reading frame was composed of 1,803 bases and 601 amino acid residues (molecular weight, 68,388). A Shine-Dalgarno sequence was found 7 bases upstream from the translation start site. Since this sequence was located in the 3'-terminal region of the penI gene, penJ might be transcribed together with penI as a polycistronic mRNA from the penI promoter. Frameshift mutations of penJ were constructed in vitro from pTTE71, and the penJ mutant gene was introduced into B. licheniformis by chromosomal recombination. The transformant B. licheniformis U173 (penP+ penI+ penJ) turned out to be uninducible for penicillinase production, whereas the wild-type strain (penP+ penI+ penJ+) was inducible. Only when these three genes (penP, penI, and PenJ) were simultaneously subcloned in Bacillus subtilis did the plasmid carrier exhibit inducible penicillinase production, as did wild-type B. licheniformis. It was concluded that penJ is involved in the penicillinase induction. The regulation of penP expression by penI and penJ is discussed.     

Bacteriophage lambda receptor site on the Escherichia coli K-12 LamB protein.

We have analyzed eight new phage-resistant missense mutations in lamB. These mutations identify five new amino acid residues essential for phage lambda adsorption. Two mutations at positions 245 and 382 affect residues which were previously identified, but lead to different amino acid changes. Three mutations at residues 163, 164, and 250 enlarge and confirm previously proposed phage receptor sites. Two different mutations at residue 259 and one at 18 alter residues previously suggested as facing the periplasmic face. The mutation at residue 18 implicates for the first time the amino-terminal region of the LamB protein in phage adsorption. The results are discussed in terms of the topology of the LamB protein.     

Constitutive expression of the SOS response in recA718 mutants of Escherichia coli requires amplification of RecA718 protein.

In recA718 lexA+ strains of Escherichia coli, induction of the SOS response requires DNA damage. This implies that RecA718 protein, like RecA+ protein, must be converted, by a process initiated by the damage, to an activated form (RecA) to promote cleavage of LexA, the cellular repressor of SOS genes. However, when LexA repressor activity was abolished by a lexA-defective mutation [lexA(Def)], strains carrying the recA718 gene (but not recA+) showed strong SOS mutator activity and were able to undergo stable DNA replication in the absence of DNA damage (two SOS functions known to require RecA activity even when cleavage of LexA is not necessary). lambda lysogens of recA718 lexA(Def) strains exhibited mass induction of prophage, indicative of constitutive ability to cleave lambda repressor. When the cloned recA718 allele was present in a lexA+ strain on a plasmid, SOS mutator activity and beta-galactosidase synthesis under LexA control were expressed in proportion to the plasmid copy number. We conclude that RecA718 is capable of becoming activated without DNA damage for cleavage of LexA and lambda repressor, but only if it is amplified above its base-line level in lexA+ strains. At amplified levels, RecA718 was also constitutively activated for its roles in SOS mutagenesis and stable DNA replication. The nucleotide sequence of recA718 reveals two base substitutions relative to the recA+ sequence. We propose that the first allows the protein to become activated constitutively, whereas the second partially suppresses this capability.     

Mobilization of Haemophilus influenzae chromosomal markers by an Escherichia coli F'' factor.

Filter matings between E. coli K-12 strains carrying an F'::Tn5,Tn9 factor with H. influenzae Rd strains gave rise to kanamycin-chloramphenicol-resistant H. influenzae strains at a frequency of approximately 10(-6). Transfer of the F' factor to H. influenzae was verified by expression of unselected markers in H. influenzae (lac+ or cotransfer of the nonselected antibiotic resistance), physical presence of a high-molecular-weight plasmid in recipient H. influenzae cells, and detection by Southern hybridization analysis of DNA sequences specific for the F' factor replication and partition functions in recipient H. influenzae cells. H. influenzae (F' Tn5,Tn9) strains were capable of transferring kanamycin and chloramphenicol resistances to other H. influenzae strains and were capable of mobilizing H. influenzae chromosomal markers at a low frequency. Insertion of a Tn5 element in the H. influenzae genome near the novobiocin resistance gene increased the frequency of transfer of novobiocin resistance about 30-fold. Transfer of other chromosomal markers also increased, although to a lesser extent, and ordered transfer of chromosomal markers could be demonstrated. Gene transfer was insensitive to DNase I, and transfer of chromosomal (but not F' factor) markers was dependent on the H. influenzae rec-1 and rec-2 gene functions.     

Revised genetic map of the distal end of the F transfer operon: implications for DNA helicase I, nicking at oriT, and conjugal DNA transport.

The DNA transfer stage of conjugation requires the products of the F sex factor genes traMYDIZ and the cis-acting site oriT. Previous interpretation of genetic and protein analyses suggested that traD, traI, and traZ mapped as contiguous genes at the distal end of the transfer operon and saturated this portion of the F transfer region (which ends with an IS3 element). Using antibodies prepared against the purified TraD and TraI proteins, we analyzed the products encoded by a collection of chimeric plasmids constructed with various segments of traDIZ DNA. We found the traI gene to be located 1 kilobase to the right of the position suggested on previous maps. This creates an unsaturated space between traD and traI where unidentified tra genes may be located and leaves insufficient space between traI and IS3 for coding the 94-kilodalton protein previously thought to be the product of traZ. We found that the 94-kilodalton protein arose from a translational restart and corresponds to the carboxy terminus of traI; we named it TraI*. The precise physical location of the traZ gene and the identity of its product are unknown. The oriT nicking activity known as TraZ may stem from unassigned regions between traD and traI and between traI and IS3, but a more interesting possibility is that it is actually a function of traI. On our revised map, the position of a previously detected RNA polymerase-binding site corresponds to a site at the amino terminus of traI rather than a location 1 kilobase into the coding region of the gene. Furthermore, the physical and genetic comparison of the F traD and traI genes with those of the closely related F-like conjugative plasmids R1 and R100 is greatly simplified. The translational organization we found for traI, together with its identity as the structural gene for DNA helicase I, suggests a possible functional link to several other genes from which translational restart polypeptides are expressed. These include the primases of the conjugative plasmids ColI and R16, the primase-helicase of bacteriophage T7, and the cisA product (nickase) of phage phi X174.