Modification of RNA polymerase after T3 phage infection of Escherichia coli B

An outer membrane porin protein modulates phage susceptibility in Edwardsiella ictaluri

Bacteriophages ΦeiAU and ΦeiDWF are lytic to the catfish pathogen Edwardsiella (Edw.) ictaluri. The Edw. ictaluri host factors that modulate phage-host interactions have not been described previously. This study identified eleven unique Edw. ictaluri host factors essential for phage infection by screening a transposon mutagenized library of two Edw. ictaluri strains for phage-resistant mutants. Two mutants were isolated with independent insertions in the ompLC gene that encodes a putative outer membrane porin. Phage binding and efficiency of plaquing assays with Edw. ictaluri EILO, its ompLC mutant and a complemented mutant demonstrated that OmpLC serves as a receptor for phage ΦeiAU and ΦeiDWF adsorption. Comparison of translated OmpLCs from 15 Edw. ictaluri strains with varying degrees of phage susceptibility revealed that amino acid variations were clustered on the predicted extracellular loop 8 of OmpLC. Deletion of loop 8 of OmpLC completely abolished phage infectivity in Edw. ictaluri. Site-directed mutagenesis and transfer of modified ompLC genes to complement the ompLC mutants demonstrated that changes in ompLC sequences affect the degree of phage susceptibility. Furthermore, Edw. ictaluri strain Alg-08-183 was observed to be resistant to ΦeiAU, but phage progeny could be produced if phage DNA was electroporated into this strain. A host-range mutant of ΦeiAU, ΦeiAU-183, was isolated that was capable of infecting strain Alg-08-183 by using OmpLC as a receptor for adsorption. The results of this study identified Edw. ictaluri host factors required for phage infection and indicated that OmpLC is a principal molecular determinant of phage susceptibility in this pathogen.

[Effect of temperature on the transcription of T3 DNA b y T3-specific RNA polymerase in cell-free extracts of Escherichia coli CRT266]

Cell free extracts were prepared from E. coli CRT266 9 min after infection with T3 phages. RNA synthesis in these extracts is almost entirely due to T3 RNA polymerase. The inactivation of T3 RNA polymerase in these extracts proceeds rapidly at 42 degrees C. 90% of the activity is lost within 10 min at this temperature. Under conditions where the formation of a stable initiation complex with T3 DNA is possible, i.e., in the presence of GPT, APT, and UTP the T3 RNA polymerase becomes protected against heat inactivation losing only )0% of its activity during an exposure to 42 degrees C for 10 min. Studies on the time course of RNA synthesis have shown that reinitiation is still possible at 37 degrees C and 42 degrees C. At 44 degrees C, however, RNA synthesis stops abruptly after 3 min indicating that reinitiation does no longer take place. The elongation of already initiated T3 RNA chains is rather resistant to heat. At 44 degrees C the same elongation rates are observed as at 37 degrees C and 42 degrees C, respectively.

Conversion of Bacillus subtilis RNA polymerase activity in vitro by a protein induced by phage SP01

A protein fraction from B. subtilis infected with phage SP01 (fraction LGG) stimulates the activity of RNA polymerase (EC 2.7.7.6; nucleosidetriphosphate:RNA nucleotidyltransferase) core from uninfected bacteria. Fraction LGG contains a protein (P-28, molecular weight 28,000) that is labeled after phage infection and binds tightly to RNA polymerase core at a relatively high ionic strength. B. subtilis RNA polymerase core with bound P-28 has the transcription specificity of the previously purified, phage-modified B-P RNA polymerase; the latter contains two subunits, v-28 and v-13 (molecular weights 28,000 and 13,000, respectively) that are synthesized after phage infection. Both enzymes transcribe SP01 DNA preferentially and direct the asymmetric synthesis of viral middle RNA. P-28, like v-28, binds more tightly to B. subtilis RNA polymerase core than the B. subtilis initiation factor, sigma, at higher ionic strength. We propose that P-28 and v-28 are the same protein. P-28 and, by implication, v-28 suffice to endow the bacterial RNA polymerase core with a novel transcription specificity.

A novel form of RNA polymerase from Escherichia coli

A new form of RNA polymerase, termed RNA polymerase III, has been recognized as a large fraction of the rifampicin-sensitive enzyme in E. coli. It is physically separable from RNA polymerase (holoenzyme, RNA polymerase I) by gel filtration and is distinguished by its capacity to discriminate between M13 and varphiX174 viral DNA templates in priming DNA synthesis. This template specificity is manifested only with saturating levels of DNA unwinding protein and characterizes the priming of DNA synthesis on viral single strands in cell-free extracts and in vivo. RNA polymerase III has less than 5% of the specific activity of RNA polymerase I in transcribing duplex DNA of phages lambda and T4, salmon sperm DNA, and the copolymer poly[d(A-T)]. Rifampicin inactivation of RNA polymerase III releases a factor, presumably a small subunit, which can be isolated and used to confer on RNA polymerase I the properties of III, namely, discrimination between M13 and varphiX174 templates in priming DNA synthesis, and a relative inability to transcribe duplex DNA.