New purine markers in Bacillus subtilis

Four new genetic markers involved in purine biosynthesis in Bacillus subtilis are clustered and lie between purE and tre. An additional new pur marker is located near purA.

Effect of deoxyribonucleic acid replication inhibitors on bacterial recombination

Two inhibitors of replicative deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesis, nalidixic acid (NAL) and 6-(p-hydroxyphenylazo)-uracil (HPUra), showed different effects on genetic recombination and DNA repair in Bacillus subtilis. Previous work (Pedrini et al., 1972) showed that NAL does not interfere with the transformation process of B. subtilis. The results reported in this work demonstrated that the drug was also without effect on the transfection by SPP1 or SPO-1 phage DNA (a process that requires a recombination event). The drug was also ineffective on the host cell reactivation of ultraviolet-irradiated SPP1 phage, as well as on transfection with ultraviolet-irradiated DNA of the same phage. HPUra instead markedly reduced the transformation process, as well as transfection, by SPO-1 DNA, but it did not affect the host cell reactivation of SPO-1 phage. In conclusion, whereas the NAL target seems to be specific for replicative DNA synthesis, the HPUra target (i.e., the DNA polymerase III of B. subtilis) seems to be involved also in recombination, but not in the excision repair process. The mutations conferring NAL and HPUra resistance used in this work were mapped by PBS-1 transduction.

Identification of coreplicating chromosomal sectors in Bacillus subtilis by nitrosoguanidine-induced comutation

The simultaneous replication of four regions of dichotomously replicating chromosomes of Bacillus subtilis has been detected by means of nitrosoguanidine-induced comutation. The map distance between successive rounds of replication has been measured as one-half a replicative arm in cells growing exponentially in rich medium.

A recombination test to classify mutants of Bacillus subtilis of identical phenotype

We have developed a recombination test inBacillus subtilisthat provides a tool for rapid genetic classification of mutants of identical phenotype. The test has been used to classify 25 ts mutants in nine recombination classes that have been proved by independent evidence to correspond to nine genetic loci.

Ureteric substitution with a tapered ileal loop. An experimental study

The authors present their experience in replacement of the ureter by a tapered ileal loop over a 24-month period, in a group of 10 dogs. With regard to the morphological and functional behaviour of the neo-ureter, the results on the whole were considered satisfactory. However, some problems such as pyelonephritis, associated with obstruction due to mucosal hyperexcretion, remain unsolved at the present time.

Proton magnetic resonance studies of peroxidases from turnip and horseradish

Proton NMR spectra at 270 MHz have been measured for horseradish peroxidase and turnip peroxidase isoenzymes (P1, P2, P3 and P7) in both their high spin ferric native states and as the low spin ferric cyanide complexes. Resonances of amino acids near the heme have been identified and used to investigate variations in the structure of the heme crevice amongst the enzymes. Ligand proton resonances have been resolved in spectra of the cyanide complexes of the peroxidases and these provide information on the heme electronic structure. The electronic structure of the heme and the tertiary structure of the heme crevice are essentially the same in the acidic turnip isoenzymes, P1, P2 and, to a lesser extent, P3 but differ in the basic turnip enzyme, P7. The heme electronic structure and nature of the iron ligands in peroxidases are discussed. Further evidence is presented for histidine as the proximal ligand. A heme-linked ionizable group with a pK of 6.5 has been detected by NMR in the cyanide complex of horseradish peroxidase.

Similarities and differences of five peroxidases from turnip and horseradish. Peptide mapping studies on glycoproteins

Four isoperoxidases of turnip root and isoperoxidase C of horseradish root were digested with trypsin, and their peptide maps, prepared by high-voltage paper electrophoresis, were compared. All five tryptic digests were completely soluble at pH 8. The maps were developed with a variety of general and specific reagents: ninhydrin, histidine, tyrosine, tryptophan and arginine reagents. Cystine peptides and cysteic acid derivatives have also been characterized. All detected half-cystine residues seemed engaged in disulfide bridges. For each individual peroxidase the number of specifically staining peptides agreed very well with the amino acid composition. The two most acidic peroxidases of turnip, P1 and P2, only differ significantly in one peptide. The P2 gene is tentatively proposed to have developed from the P1 gene by a single base mutation, changing an asparagine residue to alysine residue. A less acidic turnip peroxidase, P3, is distinct, although related to peroxidases P1 and P2. Horseradish isoperoxidase C also belongs to this group which appears to be closely related in the amino acid sequences around four disulfide bridges. Peroxidase P7 differs from this group, at least around two of its disulfide bridges, and therefore, may differ from the other four in parts of its three dimensional structure. Sequences of particular importance to peroxidase function must be present in all peroxidases. From the peptide mapping studies we only find two highly homologous sequences present in all five examined peroxidases. Both contain histidine. This finding corroborates previous suggestions of two histidine sequences near the peroxidase heme prosthetic group. The rules applied in relating peptides of different proteins are outlined, and the sources of errors in mapping of glycoproteins of high carbohydrate content (about 20%) are discussed in detail.

Genetic and physiological studies on the site of action of distamycin A

Two new genetic loci of Bacillus subtilis are identified by mutations that confer resistance to distamycin A and to other antibacterial agents. The chromosomal region where they map probably contains a cluster of genes whose products are related to membrane structure and function. Some of the biological effects of distamycin A are still in evidence in the resistant mutants indicating that the drug possibly acts at multiple sites. Most biological effects of the drug (including the phenotypic correction of a morphopoietic mutation) are likely to be due to the interaction of distamycin A with membrane (or surface) structures.

A new mutant of Bacillus subtilis altered in the initiation of chromosome replication

We have isolated a new mutant of Bacillus subtilis temperature sensitive in DNA replication; its properties are those of an initiation mutant. When liquid cultures are shifted to 48 degrees DNA replication is the first macromolecular synthesis that stops, but only after synthesis of the amount of DNA predicted for the completion of one replication round. When spores of the mutant are germinated and shifted to 48 degrees at subsequent times, one round of DNA replication is observed only when the shift occurs between 60 and 100 min; earlier shifts do not allow replication to start, later shifts allow more than one replication. The DNA replicated after a shift to high temperature is enriched in markers close to the terminus. The reinitiation of DNA replication stopped by the high temperature, takes place following a shift to a permissive temperature only if protein synthesis is allowed. Examination of DNA replication following toluene treatment shows that the elongation of DNA chains is not affected at the non-permissive temperature. This mutant is shown by PBS-1 mapping to correspond to a new gene denominated dna P, which is located between the thy A and fur A genes and is distinct from all the mapped dna and rec genes of Bacillus subtilis. The mutation confers to the cells also a deficiency in the ability to be transformed, to be transfected with SPP1 phage DNA, and to survive treatment with methyl-methane sulfonate. These deficiencies, observed at the permissive temperature, are no more temperature dependent than in the parental strain. The ability to perform homologous and heterologous transduction with PBS-1 phage and the sensitivity to ultraviolet radiation or mitomycin C are normal.

Synchronous germination and outgrowth of fractionated Bacillus subtilis spores: tool for the analysis of differentiation and division of bacterial cells

A fraction of Bacillus subtilis 168 spores, purified by Urografin isopycnic density centrifugation, heat activated, and inoculated in nutrient broth plus glucose, germinated and outgrew very synchronously. Synchrony was documented by nuclear staining and fluorescence microscopy, and by determining the variation of the buoyant density of the cells during outgrowth. Cell mass increased at constant rates and the passage from one rate to the next was dependent upon deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) synthesis. DNA synthesis inhibitors induced the formation of anucleated sister cells in a vast majority of the population, indicating that septation was programmed and became independent from DNA synthesis very early in the cell cycle.

Genetic and enzymic studies on the recombination process in Bacillus subtilis

We have isolated recombination deficient mutants of Bacillus subtilis on the basis of their sensitivity to methyl-methane-sulfonate or ultraviolet light, or of their inability to be transformed on solid medium. We have analyzed the mutants for several recombination and repair properties; we have grouped them in 5 classes on the basis of their phenotype and tested them for the activity of several enzymes acting on DNA, ie. DNA polymerase, polynucleotide ligase, ATP dependent DNase, and a DNase acting on single-stranded DNA. One mutant was found reduced in the latter DNase. Some of the mutants have been mapped, and they correspond to three different genes denominated rec D, rec F and rec G. All the recombination deficient mutants of B. subtilis described in the literature have been grouped in 7 classes; the mutations belong to 13 (and possibly 15) different genes distributed along the map. A coherent nomenclature and the criteria for a standard study of the rec mutants are proposed.

Properties of a Bacillus subtilis strain lacking DNA polymerase I

We have isolated a mutant of Bacillussubtilis deficient in DNA polymerase I, denominated polA42, which shows a reduced ability to repair the damage to DNA by UV radiation, MMS and mitomycin C;the ability to perform recombination is not appreciably impaired.DEAE cellulose chromatography allows the separation of polymerases I and II from the parental strain;a simple procedure is also described which allows to separate rapidly the polymerases II and III of the mutant strain. The three separated polymerases have similar catalytic properties but they can be distinguished for their sensitivity to inhibitors: PCMB inhibits polymerases II and III but not polymerase I; HPUra inhibits only polymerase III. All three enzymes are unaffected by nalidixate. The DNA synthesis occurring in cells of the polA42 strain permeabilized with toluene is inhibited by nalidixate, whereas the synthesis occurring in polA(+) toluenized cells is unaffected by the drug. The polA gene has been mapped by transduction and localized between the phe(12) and argA(3) genes.

Interaction between deoxyribonucliec acid and distamycin A studied by transformation in Bacillus subtilis

Distamycin A inhibits deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-mediated transformation and transfection in Bacillus subtilis at doses with little or no antibacterial effect. The inhibition of transformation parallels the inhibition of DNA uptake; further-more, during the transformation process, donor DNA molecules become distamycin and deoxyribonuclease resistant at the same time. This demonstrates that the drug acts by inhibiting DNA uptake. Although the drug is known to bind DNA, the inhibition is not related to affinity of the drug for DNA. This is shown by the lack of dependence of the extent of inhibition on DNA concentration, whereas the degree of inhibition depends upon cell concentration. Supporting this view is the fact that transformation by single-stranded DNA was also inhibited, even though the drug does not bind to denatured DNA. Distamycin A probably interferes with transformation by competing with DNA for some unknown bacterial component involved in transport of DNA into the cell.