Inactivation of the T7 coliphage by monofunctional alkylating agents. Action of phage adsorption and injection of its DNA

Mechanism of toxicity of 3-methyladenine for bacteriophage T7

Treatment of bacteriophage T7 with methyl methanesulfonate perturbed phage-specific genetic expression in both repair-proficient and repair-deficient Escherichia coli cells. In wild-type cells (AB1157), the time course of protein synthesis was slowed down but an entire complement of phage proteins was synthesized. In cells (BK2114, tag-) unable to repair 3-methyladenine, the toxic lesion produced by methyl methanesulfonate, alkylated phage produced only early (class I) proteins. These results suggested that late transcription was inhibited in infected tag- cells. These cells were shown to contain a significant amount of active T7 RNA polymerase, a class I protein. Thus, the cause of inhibition appeared to be the inability of T7 RNA polymerase to use unrepaired DNA as template. In vitro transcription assays with alkylated T7 DNA as template supported this proposal. T7 RNA polymerase proved to be very sensitive to the presence of alkylation lesions. In addition, the phage enzyme was much more sensitive to these lesions than was its bacterial counterpart, E. coli RNA polymerase. These results suggest that 3-methyladenine exerts its toxic action, in the T7 system, at the level of transcription by T7 RNA polymerase. To further characterize the reduced activity of the T7 enzyme, an in vitro transcription assay using linearized plasmid DNA with one T7 promoter was devised. Gel electrophoresis revealed that only one transcript of well-defined length was synthesized by T7 RNA polymerase on this template. Alkylation of the template did not alter the size of the transcript produced. Simultaneous measurement of chain initiation and chain elongation confirmed this result by showing that both steps were reduced to the same extent by alkylation of template DNA. Thus T7 RNA polymerase does not appear to be blocked by 3-methyladenine. Rather the lesion must hinder translocation of T7 RNA polymerase along the DNA template during chain elongation.

Defective DNA injection by alkylated and nonalkylated bacteriophage T7

DNA injection by alkylated and nonalkylated bacteriophage T7 has been analyzed by a physical method which involved Southern hybridization to identify noninjected regions of DNA. Treatment of phage with methyl methanesulfonate reduced the amount of DNA injected into wild-type Escherichia coli cells. This reduction was correlated with a decreased injection of DNA segments located on the right-hand third of the T7 genome. An essentially identical injection defect was observed when alkylated phage infected E. coli mutant cells unable to repair 3-methyladenine. Furthermore, untreated phage particles were discovered to be naturally injection-defective. Some injected all their DNA except those segments located in the rightmost 15% of the T7 genome, while other injected no DNA at all. In the presence of rifampicin, untreated phages injected only segments from the left end of the genome. These results provide direct physical evidence that T7 DNA injection is strictly unidirectional, starting from the left end of the T7 genome. The injection defect quantified here for alkylated phage is probably partially, if not totally, responsible for phage inactivation, when that inactivation is measured in wild-type E. coli cells. Since alkylated phage injected the same DNA sequences into both wild-type and repair-deficient cells, we conclude that DNA injection is independent of the host-cell's capacity for repair of 3-methyladenine residues.

Mechanism of inhibition of bacteriophage T7 DNA synthesis in Escherichia coli B cells infected by alkylated bacteriophage T7

Quantitative analysis of DNA replication, in E. coli B cells infected by methyl methanesulfonate-treated bacteriophage T7, showed that production of phage DNA was delayed and decreased. The cause of the delay appeared to be a delay in host-DNA breakdown, the process which provides nucleotides for phage-DNA synthesis. In addition, reutilisation of host-derived nucleotides was impaired. These observations can be accounted for by a model in which methyl groups on phage DNA slow down DNA injection and also reduce the replicational template activity of the DNA once it has entered the cell. Repair of alkylated phage DNA may be required not only for replication but also for normal injection of DNA.

Action of intact AP (apurinic/apyrimidinic) sites and AP sites associated with breaks on the transcription of T7 coliphage DNA by Escherichia coli RNA polymerase

The effect of apurinic/apyrimidinic (AP) sites in DNA on RNA and protein synthesis was studied in vitro using T7 coliphage DNA. Initiation of RNA synthesis by Escherichia coli RNA polymerase was synchronized and heparin was used to prevent reinitiation. When the T7 DNA contained AP sites, the rate of RNA synthesis was decreased but it remained higher than the values calculated on the assumption that an AP site in the transcribed strand is a complete block to the enzyme progression. Moreover, after the time taken by an unimpeded enzyme to go from promoter to terminator, the rate of RNA synthesis remained elevated and the number of complete RNA molecules (7000 nucleotides) continued to increase for some time. These results suggest that, if the E. coli RNA polymerase is stopped by an AP site, most often, after a pause, the enzyme resumes elongation of the RNA chain which is continuous over the AP site. Sometimes however, RNA synthesis is definitively interrupted during the pause; the probability of interruption has been estimated to be 0.3 in our experimental conditions. When a nick is placed 5' to the AP site by an AP endonuclease, the results are similar: most often, the RNA chain is synthesized without interruption past the nick in the template strand. The pause of the E. coli RNA polymerase at this combined lesion appears to be shorter than when the AP site is intact. To investigate whether a nucleotide is placed in the RNA chain in front of the AP site in the template strand by E. coli RNA polymerase, RNA synthesis was taken to completion before using this RNA for protein synthesis and measuring the activity of gene-1 product, T7 RNA polymerase. The result suggests that, after pausing, the E. coli RNA polymerase places a nucleotide in the RNA chain when passing over an AP site. The mechanism of the delayed lethality of T7 coliphages treated with monofunctional alkylating agents, which is due to the appearance of AP sites, is discussed.

A review of the genetic effects of ethyl methanesulfonate

Ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) is a monofunctional ethylating agent that has been found to be mutagenic in a wide variety of genetic test systems from viruses to mammals. It has also been shown to be carcinogenic in mammals. Alkylation of cellular, nucleophilic sites by EMS occurs via a mixed SN1/SN2 reaction mechanism. While ethylation of DNA occurs principally at nitrogen positions in the bases, because of the partial SN1 character of the reaction, EMS is also able to produce significant levels of alkylation at oxygens such as the O6 of guanine and in the DNA phosphate groups. Genetic data obtained using microorganisms suggest that EMS may produce both GC to AT and AT to GC transition mutations. There is also some evidence that EMS can cause base-pair insertions or deletions as well as more extensive intragenic deletions. In higher organisms, there is clear-cut evidence that EMS is able to break chromosomes, although the mechanisms involved are not well understood. An often cited hypothesis is that DNA bases ethylated by EMS (mostly the N-7 position of guanine) gradually hydrolyze from the deoxyribose on the DNA backbone leaving behind an apurinic (or possibly an apyrimidinic) site that is unstable and can lead to single-strand breakage of the DNA. Data also exist that suggest that ethylation of some chromosomal proteins in mouse spermatids by EMS may be an important factor in causing chromosome breakage.

Repair of methyl methane sulfonate-damaged phage by Haemophilus influenzae

Seven mutants of Haemophilus influenzae strain Rd (mmsA-) have been isolated that are more sensitive to methyl methane sulfonate (mms) than recombination-deficient (recA-) mutants. The mutations cotransformed about 25% with the strA locus while the five studied clustered tightly; they are all probably allelic. The mutants are not sensitive to ultraviolet radiation, X-rays, or nitrous acid. Mms-damaged phage HP1 plated very inefficiently on these mutants, indicating that they lack the first step in the excision repair of the lesion N3-methyladenine (m3A). Incubation of damaged phage at 30 degrees C in the absence of mms resulted in a steady decline of viability when the phage were plated on the wild mmsA+ host but an initial steep rise was seen when it was plated on an mmsA- mutant. The rise is explained by the assumption that m3A lesions hydrolyzed off the DNA giving rise to repairable apurinic sites by both the mmsA+ and mmsA- hosts. No decline in viability was observed when hydroxylamine was present in the medium. This compound is known to prevent or slow down beta-elimination. The delayed decline in viability is therefore explained by assuming that apurinic sites give rise to beta-elimination-induced single strand breaks in the phage DNA that cannot be repaired by either host. Marker rescue experiments indicated that these breaks did not interrupt injection of phage DNA.

RNA polymerase-dependent mechanism for the stepwise T7 phage DNA transport from the virion into E. coli

The influence of rifampicin, streptolydigin, tetracycline and chloramphenicol on phage DNA transport from the T7 virion into the E. coli cell was studied. It has been found that the DNA transport proceeds in at least three stages. During the initial stage the phage injects into the host cell the left approximately 10 per cent of its DNA molecule. The entrance of the next 50 per cent of 17 DNA molecule is blocked by inhibitors which block transcription but not translation. Moreover, the entrance time of this part of the T7 DNA increases in the case of the T7 mutant D111 (which contains a deletion of the A2 and A3 promoters) and decreases in the case of the D53 mutant (which contains a deletion in the region of the early gene transcription terminator). It would appear, that the second stage of the phage DNA transport is tightly coupled with its transcription and that a mechanical function is carried out by RNA polymerase. The translation inhibitors completely block the entrance of the remaining 40 per cent of the 17 DNA molecule (class III genes) into the host cell. It would appear that some class I and (or) II gene product(s) are obligatory components of the final stage of 17 DNA transport. Some probable consequences of this virus DNA transport model as well as its agreement with the functional structure of T7 chromosome and with T7 development are discussed.

In vitro host cell reactivation of alkylated bacteriophage T7 deoxyribonucleic acid by repair-deficient strains of Escherichia coli

An in vitro system capable of packaging bacteriophage T7 deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) into phage heads to form viable phage particles has been used to monitor the biological consequences of DNA dam aged by alkylating agents, and an in vitro DNA replication system has been used to examine the ability of alkylated T7 DNA to serve as template for DNA synthesis. The survival of phage resulting from in vitro packaging of DNA preexposed to various concentrations of methyl methane sulfonate or ethyl methane sulfonate closely paralleled the in vivo situation, in which intact phage were exposed to the alkylating agents. Host factors responsible for survival of alkylated T7 have been examined by using wild-type strains of EScherichia coli and mutants deficient in DNA polymerase I (polA) or 3-methyladenine-DNA glycosylase (tag). For both in vivo and in vitro situations, a deficiency in 3-methyladenine-DNA glycosylase dramatically reduced phage survival relative to that in the wild type, whereas a deficiency in DNA polymerase I had an intermediate effect. Furthermore, when the tag mutant was used as an indicator strain, phage survival was enhanced when alkylated DNA was packaged with extracts prepared from a wild-type strain in place of the tag mutant or by complementing a tag extract with an uninfected tag+ extract, indicating in vitro repair during packaging.

Biological consequences of infection of Escherichia coli B by alkylated T7 bacteriophage

Alkylation of T7 bacteriophage considerably delayed phage development and reduced the phage's killing action on host cells. Only a small fraction of infected cells produced phage. For these phages, the latent period was markedly prolonged but the burst was equivalent to or only slightly lower than that of untreated phage. In the progeny of alkylated phage, there was an increase in the fraction of defective particles as well as a change in their morphology. These data show that infection with alkylated T7 bacteriophage is to a large degree abortive; hence, biological consequences of this infection are very different from those characteristic of a normal virus infection.

Host-cell reactivation of alkylated T7 bacteriophage

Purified T7 phage, treated with methyl methanesulfonate, was assayed on Escherichia coli K-12 host cells deficient in base excision repair. Phage survival, measured immediately after alkylation or following incubation to induce depurination, was lowest on a mutant defective in the polymerase activity of DNA polymerase I (p3478). Strains defective in endonuclease for apurinic sites (AB3027, BW2001) gave a significantly higher level of phage survival, as did the strain defective in the 5'--3' exonuclease activity of DNA polymerase I (RS5065). Highest survival of alkylated T7 phage was observed on the two wild-type strains (AB1157, W3110). These results show that alkylated T7 phage is subject to repair via the base excision repair pathway.

[Effect of the detergent Metaupon on replication of various phages]

As several other surfactants do, the detergent Metaupon acts on the multiplication of bacteriophages. We investigated the influence of Metaupon on the phages phi and lambda, the cyanophage LPP-1, and the RNA-phages f 2, M 12, and Q beta by means of the agar diffusion test, pour plate test, adsorption test, and one-step growth test. The action of Metaupon on the free phages was also tested. Metaupon inhibits the formation of plaques by the phages with exception of lambda. With the phages f 2 and M 12 the substance increases the amount of plaques depending on concentration. The main mode of action of Metaupon was found to be the inhibition of the adsorption of the phages to the host cells. Only in the case of phi 105 free phages were inactivated.

DNA injection and genetic recombination of alkylated bacteriophage T7 in the presence of nalidixic acid

Marker rescue experiments with alkylated T7 bacteriophage carried out in the presence and in the absence of nalidixic acid suggest that the gradient in rescue is due to two alkylation-induced causes: a DNA injection defect and an interference with DNA synthesis.