Alteration of regulation of arginine biosynthesis in Escherichia coli W by mutation to rifampin resistance

Sensitivity of DNA-repair-deficient strains of Escherichia coli to rifampicin killing

We have analyzed the role of RNA polymerase in DNA repair using the antibiotic rifampicin which binds specifically to the beta subunit of the enzyme. Several DNA-repair-deficient strains such as recA, uvr, and polA, and their isogenic parents were used for this study. All repair-deficient strains were found to be hypersensitive to rifampicin killing. Compared to the isogenic parent strains, recA strains are about 50 times more sensitive and the polA strain is about 100 times more sensitive to rifampicin killing. UvrA and uvrB strains are slightly more sensitive to rifampicin than the wild-type strains. The hypersensitivity of repair-deficient strains to rifampicin killing is totally abolished by the introduction of rifampicin-resistant mutations into these strains. We have examined the effect of rifampicin on RNA and protein synthesis in repair-deficient and -proficient strains. RNA and protein synthesis were found to be inhibited by rifampicin to the same extent among all the strains tested. The results also show that the resumption of DNA synthesis was significantly disrupted in DNA-repair-deficient strains following drug removal. Taken together these results suggest that RNA polymerase plays an essential role in DNA metabolism and such function may be replaced by polA and recA gene products and to a lesser extend by uvrA and uvrB gene products.

Promoter selectivity of Escherichia coli RNA polymerase. II: Altered promoter selection by mutant holoenzymes

Using the in vitro mixed transcription system (Kajitani and Ishihama (1983a, 1983b), we examined selective transcription of truncated DNA templates carrying lac(UV5), rrnE or rpsA promoters by RNA polymerase holoenzymes from pairs of wild-type parents and mutants with a mutation in one or more RNA polymerase subunit genes. The promoter selectivity of RNA polymerases from two sigma-subunit mutants carrying either rpoD2 or rpoD285 differed markedly from that of the respective wild-type enzymes. Both the parental RNA polymerases, however, exhibited abnormal promoter selectivity compared with holoenzymes from various wild-type E. coli strains. On the other hand, all the RNA polymerases from rpoB and/or rpoC mutants and the respective wild-type parents were similar, if not identical, in promoter selection at low temperature. At high temperature, however, RNA polymerases from mutants carrying rpoB2B7 and rpoC4, affecting the beta and beta' subunits, respectively, showed decreased transcription from the high-affinity slow-transcribable promoter rrnEp2 whereas the rpoC92 and rpoB906 X rpoC907 mutant enzymes both lost transcription activity from the strong promoter lacP(UV5). Taking all these observations together we conclude that not only the sigma subunit but also the beta and beta' subunits are involved in the recognition of promoters.

Increased levels of dihydrofolate reductase in rifampin-resistant mutants of Bacillus subtilis

Several independent, spontaneous rifampin-resistant mutants of Bacillus subtilis were isolated and found to have an increased resistance to trimethoprim, an inhibitor of dihydrofolate reductase. This increased resistance in the rif mutants was the result of a specific threefold increase in the activity of dihydrofolate reductase, since six other enzymes examined remained unchanged. This increased level of dihydrofolate reductase and the trimethoprim resistance were cotransformed (100%) with the rif marker. These results suggest that the RNA polymerase is altered in its recognition of the gene that specifies dihydrofolate reductase.

Degradation of Escherichia coli DNA: evidence for limitation in vivo by protein X, the recA gene product

DNA is more extensively degraded after it is damaged in recA mutants of E. coli than in wild type cells. All data presented here are consistent with the recA gene product, protein X, being an inhibitor of nalidixic acid induced degradation of the bulk DNA (but not of newly replicated DNA). Production of protein X also is correlated with appearance of various "S.O.S." repair functions. Evidence was obtained by comparing the rates of protein X synthesis and solubilization of uniformly-labeled DNA in intact cells, incubated in the presence of nalidixic acid. A set of mutants at the lexA locus produced protein X at different rates and degraded their DNA at rates which were inversely correlated to their rates of protein X production. A low concentration of rifampicin quite specifically inhibited protein X production by wild type E. coli, and allowed more rapid DNA degradation. After the DNA was damaged by the incubation of cells in the presence of nalidixic acid, cells preloaded with protein X degraded their DNA more slowly. We propose that protein X could protect DNA against degradation by binding to single-stranded regions, thereby inhibiting nuclease action.