Cloning and expression of the pnd gene of R16: determination of transcriptional direction and evolutionary analysis

Incompatibility Group I1 (IncI1) Plasmids: Their Genetics, Biology, and Public Health Relevance

Bacterial plasmids are extrachromosomal genetic elements that often carry antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes and genes encoding increased virulence and can be transmissible among bacteria by conjugation. One key group of plasmids is the incompatibility group I1 (IncI1) plasmids, which have been isolated from multiple Enterobacteriaceae of food animal origin and clinically ill human patients. The IncI group of plasmids were initially characterized due to their sensitivity to the filamentous bacteriophage If1. Two prototypical IncI1 plasmids, R64 and pColIb-P9, have been extensively studied, and the plasmids consist of unique regions associated with plasmid replication, plasmid stability/maintenance, transfer machinery apparatus, single-stranded DNA transfer, and antimicrobial resistance. IncI1 plasmids are somewhat unique in that they encode two types of sex pili, a thick, rigid pilus necessary for mating and a thin, flexible pilus that helps stabilize bacteria for plasmid transfer in liquid environments. A key public health concern with IncI1 plasmids is their ability to carry antimicrobial resistance genes, including those associated with critically important antimicrobials used to treat severe cases of enteric infections, including the third-generation cephalosporins. Because of the potential importance of these plasmids, this review focuses on the distribution of the plasmids, their phenotypic characteristics associated with antimicrobial resistance and virulence, and their replication, maintenance, and transfer.

Analysis of an Escherichia coli mutant strain resistant to the cell-killing function encoded by the gef gene family

The chromosomal genes gef and relF from Escherichia coli and the plasmid-encoded genes hok, flmA, srnB, and pndA constitute the gef gene family, which encodes a cell-killing function. In order to investigate the mechanism of cell killing we have isolated an E. coli mutant strain that is resistant to the overexpression of the toxic proteins encoded by the gef gene family. This phenotype requires at least two mutations, one of which has been mapped to 55.2 minutes. This mutation was sequenced and shown to represent a single base substitution in an open reading frame (ORF178) encoding a putative membrane protein having a molecular mass of 20.1 kDa. ORF178 and an upstream frame, ORF190, probably constitute an operon.

Transcriptional regulation of F plasmid gene srnB: rifampicin-promoted in vitro readthrough of a terminator in the leader region

srnB is an F-plasmid encoded gene, otherwise silent, whose expression is induced by added rifampicin, leading to the release of cellular Mg2+ and degradation of stable RNA. In the absence of rifampicin, transcripts from the srnB gene were relatively short. S1 nuclease mapping revealed that the short mRNA species terminated within the leader, at the 3' end of a potential stem-and-loop structure. A deletion in the stem-loop resulted in constitutive synthesis of the mRNA that extended beyond the termination site into the structural gene. Even with the wild-type gene, transcription continued beyond the terminator sequence in the presence of added rifampicin. Most of the transcripts synthesized in the presence of rifampicin were long enough to encode the srnB protein. We hypothesize from these results that RNA polymerase associated with rifampicin can read through the terminator to induce srnB expression.

The pnd gene in E. coli plasmid R16: nucleotide sequence and gene expression leading to cell Mg2+ release and stable RNA degradation

The pnd gene promotes the degradation of stable RNA in the presence of rifampicin at 42 degrees C, but is repressed during normal growth (Ohnishi, Y. and Akimoto, S. (1980) J. Bacteriol. 144, 833-835). We have determined the sequence of a third srnB-pnd-type gene, and have analyzed the effects of its expression from an inducible promoter. The nucleotide sequence of the pnd gene of the R16 plasmid exhibits an open reading frame for a polypeptide with 50 amino-acid residues, with high sequence homology to the pnd gene of a plasmid (R483) of a different incompatibility group. A possible base-paired stem and loop structure, which may participate in the regulation of gene expression, was detected between the promoter and the initiation codon, analogous to that in two comparable genes, srnB in the F and pnd in the R483 plasmid. When bacterial cells containing a lac-pnd fusion plasmid were incubated with a lac inducer at 30 degrees C, magnesium was released from the cells in bulk, and spheroplasts of the cells lysed even in hypertonic solution. Furthermore, when Mg2+ efflux was inhibited in the medium containing 5 mM Mg2+ or in Tris-HCl buffer, the degradation of stable RNA at 42 degrees C was inhibited. These results suggest that expression of the pnd gene effects a release of cellular magnesium by a membrane alterations, resulting in the stable RNA degradation at a higher temperature.

Nucleotide sequence of the pnd gene in plasmid R483 and role of the pnd gene product in plasmolysis

The pnd gene of R plasmid R483, like the srnB gene of the F plasmid, increases the degradation of stable RNA in Escherichia coli. The nucleotide sequence of the pnd locus was determined and compared with that of the srnB locus. The genes have open reading frames that are 54% homologous, and both have an upstream inverted repeat sequence. The pnd gene expression seems to decrease the osmotic barrier of the cytoplasmic membrane, since no plasmolytic vacuoles were formed in the cells carrying the gene when the cells were exposed to hypertonic sucrose solution. This result suggests that RNase I in the periplasm passes through the altered membrane to degrade stable RNA in the cytoplasm.