Genetic regulation of ribonucleoside and deoxyribonucleoside catabolism in Salmonella typhimurium

Data on proteome of Mycoplasma hominis cultivated with arginine or thymidine as a carbon source

Mycoplasma hominis is an opportunistic bacterium that can cause acute and chronic infections of the urogenital tract. This bacterium, like all other Mycoplasma species, is characterized by the reduced genome size, and, consequently, reduction of the main metabolic pathways. M. hominis cells cannot effectively use glucose as a carbon and energy source. Therefore, the main pathway of energy metabolism is the arginine dihydrolase pathway. However, several bacteria can use nucleosides as the sole energy source. Biochemical studies using Salmonella typhimurium have shown that three enzymes (thymidine phosphorylase, phosphopentose mutase and deoxyribose-phosphate aldolase) are involved in the thymidine catabolic pathway. All these enzymes are present in M. hominis. For understanding changes in the energy metabolism of M. hominis we performed shotgun proteome analysis of M. hominis cells in liquid medium with arginine or thymidine as a carbon source. LC-MS analysis was performed with an Ultimate 3000 Nano LC System (Thermo Fisher Scientific) coupled to a Q Exactive HF benchtop Orbitrap mass spectrometer (Thermo Fisher Scientific) via a nanoelectrospray source (Thermo Fisher Scientific). Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD018714 (https://www.ebi.ac.uk/pride/archive/projects/PXD018714).

Proteomic analysis of the adaptive response of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium to growth under anaerobic conditions

In order to survive in the host and initiate infection, Salmonella enterica needs to undergo a transition between aerobic and anaerobic growth by modulating its central metabolic pathways. In this study, a comparative analysis of the proteome of S. enterica serovar Typhimurium grown in the presence or absence of oxygen was performed. The most prominent changes in expression were measured in a semiquantitative manner using difference in-gel electrophoresis (DIGE) to reveal the main protein factors involved in the adaptive response to anaerobiosis. A total of 38 proteins were found to be induced anaerobically, while 42 were repressed. The proteins of interest were in-gel digested with trypsin and identified by MALDI TOF mass spectrometry using peptide mass fingerprinting. In the absence of oxygen, many fermentative enzymes catalysing reactions in the mixed-acid or arginine fermentations were overexpressed. In addition, the enzyme fumarate reductase, which is known to provide an alternative electron acceptor for the respiratory chains in the absence of oxygen, was shown to be induced. Increases in expression of several glycolytic and pentose phosphate pathway enzymes, as well as two malic enzymes, were detected, suggesting important roles for these in anaerobic metabolism. Substantial decreases in expression were observed for a large number of periplasmic transport proteins. The majority of these are involved in the uptake of amino acids and peptides, but permeases transporting iron, thiosulphate, glucose/galactose, glycerol 3-phosphate and dicarboxylic acids were also repressed. Decreases in expression were also observed for a superoxide dismutase, ATP synthase, inositol monophosphatase, and several chaperone and hypothetical proteins. The changes were monitored in two different isolates, and despite their very similar expression patterns, some variability in the adaptive response to anaerobiosis was also observed.

Induction of nucleoside phosphorylase in Enterobacter aerogenes and enzymatic synthesis of adenine arabinoside

Nucleoside phosphorylases (NPases) were found to be induced in Enterobacter aerogenes DGO-04, and cytidine and cytidine 5'-monophosphate (CMP) were the best inducers. Five mmol/L to fifteen mmol/L cytidine or CMP could distinctly increase the activities of purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNPase), uridine phosphorylase (UPase) and thymidine phosphorylase (TPase) when they were added into medium from 0 to 8 h. In the process of enzymatic synthesis of adenine arabinoside from adenine and uracil arabinoside with wet cells of Enterobacter aerogenes DGO-04 induced by cytidine or CMP, the reaction time could be shortened from 36 to 6 h. After enzymatic reaction the activity of NPase in the cells induced remained higher than that in the cells uninduced.

Microbial models and regulatory elements in the control of purine metabolism

Bacterial systems have been used to identify and characterize the organization of the genetic units and the regulatory elements that control purine metabolism. An analysis of 13 genes that control the biosynthesis of AMP and GMP has revealed three multigenic operons. These show properties of gene contiguity, promoter sites, coordinate expression and polarity effects. The unit controlling the formation of IMP is one operon (pur JHD) consisting of three genes which together control the formation of phosphoribosylglycinamide synthetase (EC 6.3.4.13), an early enzyme in the biosynthetic pathway, and a terminal bifunctional complex (IMP cyclohydrolase--formyltransferase). Regulatory mutants were isolated and characterized by several methods including the use of a unique fusion of two unrelated operons. Both operator constitutive and repressor type (purR) mutations have been identified. The purR product functions in the common control of several genetically distinct enzymes that participate before the formation of IMP. Plasmid DNA enriched for the purE operon has been isolated and used in the study of the role of nucleotide effectors in the binding of repressor-like proteins. AMP but not GMP is needed for binding, and purR mutants are deficient in the binding substance. Mutants with differential blocks in the salvage and interconverting reactions have been used to characterize the regulatory elements of the formation and the activity of guanosine kinase, GMP reductase (EC 1.6.6.8), and purine nucleoside phosphorylase (EC 2.4.2.1). Two structural gene products (purF) and (purG) have been implicated as possible regulatory elements for the use of guanosine, and a role for glutamine in the induction of GMP reductase has been revealed.

Identification and functional analysis of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium PmrA-regulated genes

The PmrA-PmrB two-component regulatory system of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium is activated in vivo and plays an important role in resistance to cationic antimicrobial peptides. Resistance is partly mediated by modifications to the lipopolysaccharide. To identify new PmrA-regulated genes, microarray analysis was undertaken comparing cDNA derived from PmrA-constitutive and PmrA-null strains. A combination of RT-PCR and transcriptional analysis confirmed the inclusion of six new loci in the PmrA-PmrB regulon: STM1253, STM1269, STM4118, STM0459, STM3968 and STM4568. These loci did not affect the ability to grow in high iron conditions, the ability to modify lipid A with aminoarabinose, or virulence. STM4118, a putative phosphoethanolamine phosphotransferase, had a minor effect on polymyxin resistance, whereas the remaining genes had no role in polymyxin resistance. Although several of the identified loci lacked the consensus PmrA binding site, PmrA was demonstrated to bind the promoter of a PmrA-activated gene lacking the consensus site. A more complete definition of the PmrA-PmrB regulon will provide a better understanding of its role in host and non-host environments.

Presence of a novel phosphopentomutase and a 2-deoxyribose 5-phosphate aldolase reveals a metabolic link between pentoses and central carbon metabolism in the hyperthermophilic archaeon Thermococcus kodakaraensis

Numerous bacteria and mammalian cells harbor two enzymes, phosphopentomutase (PPM) and 2-deoxyribose 5-phosphate aldolase (DERA), involved in the interconversion between nucleosides and central carbon metabolism. In this study, we have examined the presence of this metabolic link in the hyperthermophilic archaeon, Thermococcus kodakaraensis KOD1. A search of the genome sequence of this strain revealed the presence of a closely related orthologue (TK2104) of bacterial DERA genes while no orthologue related to previously characterized PPM genes could be detected. Expression, purification, and characterization of the TK2104 protein product revealed that this gene actually encoded a DERA, catalyzing the reaction through a class I aldolase mechanism. As PPM activity was detected in T. kodakaraensis cells, we partially purified the protein to examine its N-terminal amino acid sequence. The sequence corresponded to a gene (TK1777) similar to phosphomannomutases within COG1109 but not COG1015, which includes all previously identified PPMs. Heterologous gene expression of TK1777 and characterization of the purified recombinant protein clearly revealed that the gene indeed encoded a PPM. Both enzyme activities could be observed in T. kodakaraensis cells under glycolytic and gluconeogenic growth conditions, whereas the addition of ribose, 2-deoxyribose, and 2'-deoxynucleosides in the medium did not lead to a significant induction of these activities. Our results clearly indicate the presence of a metabolic link between pentoses and central carbon metabolism in T. kodakaraensis, providing an alternative route for pentose biosynthesis through the functions of DERA and a structurally novel PPM.

Genetic and biochemical characterization of Salmonella enterica serovar typhi deoxyribokinase

We identified in the genome of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi the gene encoding deoxyribokinase, deoK. Two other genes, vicinal to deoK, were determined to encode the putative deoxyribose transporter (deoP) and a repressor protein (deoQ). This locus, located between the uhpA and ilvN genes, is absent in Escherichia coli. The deoK gene inserted on a plasmid provides a selectable marker in E. coli for growth on deoxyribose-containing medium. Deoxyribokinase is a 306-amino-acid protein which exhibits about 35% identity with ribokinase from serovar Typhi, S. enterica serovar Typhimurium, or E. coli. The catalytic properties of the recombinant deoxyribokinase overproduced in E. coli correspond to those previously described for the enzyme isolated from serovar Typhimurium. From a sequence comparison between serovar Typhi deoxyribokinase and E. coli ribokinase, whose crystal structure was recently solved, we deduced that a key residue differentiating ribose and deoxyribose is Met10, which in ribokinase is replaced by Asn14. Replacement by site-directed mutagenesis of Met10 with Asn decreased the V(max) of deoxyribokinase by a factor of 2.5 and increased the K(m) for deoxyribose by a factor of 70, compared to the parent enzyme.

Channelling of deoxyribose moiety of exogenous DNA into carbohydrate metabolism: role of deoxyriboaldolase

In bacteria, the addition of (deoxy)nucleosides or (deoxy)ribose to the growth medium causes induction of enzymes involved in their catabolism, leading to the utilisation of the pentose moiety as carbon and energy source. In this respect, deoxyriboaldolase appears the key enzyme, allowing the utilisation of deoxyribose 5-P through glycolysis. We observed that not only deoxynucleosides, but also DNA added to the growth medium of Bacillus cereus induced deoxyriboaldolase; furthermore, the switch of the culture from aerobic to anaerobic conditions caused a further increase in enzyme activity, leading to a more efficient channelling of deoxyribose 5-P into glycolysis, probably as a response to the low energy yield of the sugar fermentation. In eukaryotes, the catabolism of (deoxy)nucleosides is well known. However, the research in this field has been mainly devoted to the salvage of the bases formed by the action of nucleoside phosphorylases, whereas the metabolic fate of the sugar moiety has been largely neglected. Our results indicate that the deoxyriboaldolase activity is present in the liver of several vertebrates and in a number of cell lines. We discuss our observations looking at the nucleic acids not only as informational molecules, but also as a not negligible source of readily usable phosphorylated sugar.

Salvage synthesis of purine nucleotides by Helicobacter pylori

The incorporation of purine nucleotide precursors into Helicobacter pylori and the activities of enzymes involved in nucleotide salvage biosynthetic pathways were investigated by radioactive tracer analysis and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The organism took up the nucleobases adenine, guanine and hypoxanthine, and the nucleosides adenosine, guanosine and deoxyadenosine. Any incorporation of deoxyguanosine by the cells was below the detection limits of the methods employed. The activities of adenine-, guanine- and hypoxanthine-phosphoribosyl transferases were established. The bacterium showed high levels of adenosine and guanosine nucleosidase activities and lesser activity for deoxyadenosine; no hydrolysis of deoxyguanosine was detected. Phosphorylase activities were not observed with any of the nucleosides. Phosphotransferase activities with similar rates were demonstrated for adenosine, guanosine and deoxyadenosine; and a weaker activity was detected for deoxyguanosine. No nucleoside kinase activities were observed with any of the nucleosides. The presence of adenylate kinase was established, but no guanylate kinase activity was observed. The study provided evidence for the presence in H. pylori of salvage pathways for the biosynthesis of purine nucleotides.

Specific adenosine phosphorylase from hepatopancreas of gastropod Helix pomatia

1. Specific adenosine phosphorylase from Helix pomatia hepatopancreas was separated from inosine-guanosine phosphorylase and purified 100-165 times; molecular weights were found to be 71,000 and 90,000, respectively. 2. The enzyme is specific for deoxy- and adenosine; it is inactive for 5'-methylthioadenosine and 5-amino-4-imidazole-carboxyamide riboside. Its sensitivity to several inhibitors differs from that of eucaryotic and bacterial purine nucleoside phosphorylases, and is not identical with the sensitivity of the S. mansoni adenosine-splitting enzyme. 3. H. pomatia adenosine phosphorylase differs in its mol. wt and Km values for P(i), ribose 1P, Ado and Ade from adenosine phosphorylase of B. subtilis.

Deoxyribose 5-phosphate aldolase of Bacillus cereus: purification and properties

Deoxyribose 5-phosphate aldolase was purified 41 times from Bacillus cereus induced by growth on deoxyribonucleosides. The purification procedure includes ammonium sulphate fractionation, gel filtration on Sephadex G-100, ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sephacel and preparative electrophoresis on 10% polyacrylamide gel. The enzyme is stable above pH 6.5, but is rapidly inactivated by sulfhydryl reagents. Being insensitive to EDTA, it may be considered as a Class I aldolase. Among a number of compounds tested (including some carboxylic acids, free and phosphorylated pentoses, nucleotides and nucleosides), none has been found to affect the enzyme activity. The enzyme appears to be dimeric, with a subunit Mr of 23,600. A Km of 4.4 x 10(-4) M was calculated for dRib 5-P.

Adenosine accumulation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae cultured in medium containing low levels of adenine

By monitoring the in vivo incorporation of low concentrations of radiolabeled adenine into acid-soluble compounds, we observed the unusual accumulation of two nucleosides in Saccharomyces cerevisiae that were previously considered products of nucleotide degradation. Under the culture conditions used in the present study, radiolabeled adenosine was the major acid-soluble intracellular derivative, and radiolabeled inosine was initially detected as the second most prevalent derivative in a mutant lacking adenine aminohydrolase. The use of yeast mutants defective in the conversion of adenine to hypoxanthine or to AMP renders very unlikely the possibility that the presence of adenosine and inosine is attributable to nucleotide degradation. These data can be explained by postulating the existence of two enzyme activities not previously reported in S. cerevisiae. The first of these activities transfers ribose to the purine ring and may be attributable to purine nucleoside phosphorylase (EC 2.4.2.1) or adenosine phosphorylase (EC 2.4.2.-). The second enzyme converts adenosine to inosine and in all likelihood is adenosine aminohydrolase (EC 3.5.4.4).

Regulation of guaC expression in Escherichia coli

The guaC gene encodes GMP reductase, which converts GMP to inosine monophosphate. Regulation of guaC expression was examined by use of guaC-lac fusions created by Mu d1(lac). In these strains, beta-galactosidase is induced by guanine derivatives, and this induction is prevented by adenine. Our previous implication that glutamine acts as a negative effector of transcription was confirmed by showing that glutamine analogs (diazo-oxo-norleucine and methionine sulfoximine) can also induce beta-galactosidase. GMP was implicated as a likely candidate for the in vivo inducer by introducing a gpt block to prevent the conversion of guanine to GMP and a deoD block to prevent the interconversion of guanine and guanosine. Regulatory mutants were isolated by growth on lactose plus adenine. Though these showed high constitutive levels of beta-galactosidase, they were normal for the regulation of GMP reductase when the fusion was corrected by transduction to guaC+ or when guaC+ was introduced by plasmid complementation. The regulatory mutants were linked to guaC.

Deoxyribose 1-phosphate: radioenzymatic and spectrophotometric assays

A method has been developed to measure deoxyribose 1-phosphate in the presence of ribose 1-phosphate and other sugar phosphates. The specificity of the method is based on the observation that only deoxyribose 1-phosphate is hydrolyzed by heating at pH 7.4, while both deoxyribose 1-phosphate and ribose 1-phosphate remain unchanged when heated at pH 10. A tissue extract is heated at pH 10. The amount of deoxyribose 1-phosphate plus ribose 1-phosphate is determined from that of deoxyinosine plus inosine formed in a coupled enzymatic reaction, based on the following two-stage transformation: deoxyribose 1-phosphate (ribose 1-phosphate) + adenine in equilibrium deoxyadenosine (adenosine) + inorganic phosphate, catalyzed by adenosine phosphorylase; deoxyadenosine (adenosine) + H2O----deoxyinosine (inosine), catalyzed by adenosine deaminase. By taking advantage of its unique heat lability, deoxyribose 1-phosphate is eliminated by heating the tissue extract at pH 7.4, and ribose 1-phosphate is determined as above. The amount of deoxyribose 1-phosphate stems from the difference between the amount of deoxyinosine plus inosine measured in the tissue extract heated at pH 10 and that of inosine measured in the tissue extract heated at pH 7.4. Free deoxyribose 1-phosphate has been found in rat tissues, as well as in Bacillus cereus during stationary phase of growth.

The internal regulated promoter of the deo operon of Escherichia coli K-12

Previous studies of the structure and regulation of the deo operon in Escherichia coli have localized an internal regulated promoter, called deoP3, in front of the two distal genes in the operon. We report here the nucleotide sequence of the distal portion of the deoA, the deoA-deoB intercistronic region and the first part of the deoB gene, and show that deoP3 overlaps the distal segment of the deoA gene. The location of the internal promoter and the transcriptional start site were determined by means of 1) sequence homology to the consensus promoter sequence of E. coli, 2) high resolution S1 nuclease mapping of in vivo transcripts and 3) in vivo regulation of beta-galactosidase from low as well as high copy number P31acZ protein fusion vectors.

Isolation and characterization of purine regulatory mutants of Salmonella typhimurium with an episomal purE-lac fusion

Expression of the purE operon of Salmonella typhimurium was analyzed by using an Escherichia coli F' episome containing a purE-lac fusion. The fusion removes the lacOP and part of the lacZ genes of the lac operon and places the intact lacY and lacA genes under control of the purE operon as shown by inhibition of growth on melibiose (lacY) and repression of thiogalactoside transacetylase (lacA) by various purines. Two classes of regulatory-deficient mutants were found among those resistant to inhibition by purines. One class was trans active (chromosomal) and corresponded to previously described purR mutants involving a deficient cytoplasmic repressor substance. These were also altered in the expression of the purF, purD, purG amd purI genes as evidenced by loss of repressibility of the synthesis of glycinamide ribotide and aminoimidazole ribotide. The other class was cis active (episomal), specific for only purE expression, and thus corresponded to an altered purE operon signal (operator or promoter). The metabolic requirements for the expression of purE were also monitored by measuring repression of the transacetylase in strains with various genetically altered metabolic backgrounds. Repression by guanine required an intact guanine phosphorbosyltransferase (gpt) and repression by adenine and all nucleosides required purine nucleoside phosphorylase (deoD). Synthesis of cyclic AMP (cya) and its receptor protein (crp) were no longer required for the expression of the lac genes under purE control.

Induction and repression of enzymes involved in exogenous purine compound utilization of Bacillus cereus

5'-Nucleotidase, adenosine phosphorylase, adenosine deaminase and purine nucleoside phosphorylase, four enzymes involved in the utilization of exogenous compounds in Bacillus cereus, were measured in extracts of this organism grown in different conditions. It was found that adenosine deaminase is inducible by addition of adenine derivatives to the growth medium, and purine, nucleoside phosphorylase by metabolizable purine and pyrimidine ribonucleosides. Adenosine deaminase is repressed by inosine, while both enzymes are repressed by glucose. Evidence is presented that during growth of B. cereus in the presence of AMP, the concerted action of 5'-nucleotidase and adenosine phosphorylase, two constitutive enzymes, leads to formation of adenine, and thereby to induction of adenosine deaminase. The ionsine formed would then cause induction of the purine nucleoside phosphorylase and repression of the deaminase. Taken together with our previous findings showing that purine nucleoside phosphorylase of B. cereus acts as a translocase of the ribose moiety of inosine inside the cell (Mura, U., Sgarrella, F. and Ipata, P.L. (1978) J. Biol Chem. 253, 7905-7909), our results provide a clear picture of the molecular events leading to the utilization of the sugar moiety of exogenous AMP, adenosine and inosine as an energy source.

Simultaneous selection of mutants in gluconeogenesis and nucleoside catabolism in Salmonella typhimurium

Penicillin selection in minimal thymidine medium, used to select mutants in deoxynucleoside catabolism, also yields a high percentage (37%) of mutants in fructose diphosphatase. The expression of the deo regulon is retarded in the mutants defective in the glyconeogenic pathway.

Adenine formation from adenosine by mycoplasmas: adenosine phosphorylase activity

Mammalian cells have enzymes to convert adenosine to inosine by deamination and inosine to hypoxanthine by phosphorolysis, but they do not possess the enzymes necessary to form the free base, adenine, from adenosine. Mycoplasmas grown in broth or in cell cultures can produce adenine from adenosine. This activity was detected in a variety of mycoplasmatales, and the enzyme was shown to be adenosine phosphorylase. Adenosine formation from adenine and ribose 1-phosphate, the reverse reaction of adenine formation from adenosine, was also observed with the mycoplasma enzyme. Adenosine phosphorylase is apparently common to the mycoplasmatales but it is not universal, and the organisms can be divided into three groups on the basis of their use of adenosine as substrate. Thirteen of 16 Mycoplasma, Acholeplasma, and Siroplasma species tested exhibit adenosine phosphorylase activity. M. lipophilium differed from the other mycoplasmas and shared with mammalian cells the ability to convert adenosine to inosine by deamination. M. pneumoniae and the unclassified M. sp. 70-159 showed no reaction with adenosine. Adenosine phosphorylase activity offers an additional method for the detection of mycoplasma contamination of cells. The patterns of nucleoside metabolism will provide additional characteristics for identification of mycoplasmas and also may provide new insight into the classification of mycoplasmas.

Purine nucleoside phosphorylase from Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium. Purification and some properties

The purine nucleoside phosphorylases from Escherichia coli and from Salmonella typhimurium have been purified to electrophoretic homogeneity and crystallized. Comparative studies revealed that the two enzymes are very much alike. They obey simple Michaelis-Menten kinetics for their substrates with the exception of phosphate for which they show negative cooperativity. Gel filtration on Sephadex G-200 of the native enzymes revealed a molecular weight for both enzymes of 138000 plus or minus 10%. By use of dodecylsulphate gel electrophoresis a subunit molecular weight of 23700 plus or minus 5% was determined, suggesting that both enzymes consist of six subunits of equal molecular weight. When the subunits were partially crosslinked with dimethyl suberimidate before dodecylsulphate electrophoresis six protein bands were observed in agreement with the proposed oligomeric state of the enzyme, consisting of six subunits of equal molecular weight. Analysis of the amino acid composition also indicates that the subunits are identical. 6M guanidinium chloride dissociates the enzymes; association experiments with native and succinylated enzymes suggested that only the hexameric form is active. Both enzymes could be dissociated into subunits by p-chloromercuribenzoate; this dissociation is prevented by the substrates: the nucleosides, the pentose 1-phosphates, and mixtures of phosphate and purine bases.

Genetic analysis of thymidine-resistant and low-thymine-requiring mutants of Escherichia coli K-12 induced by bacteriophage Mu-1

Four genes, dra, tpp, drm, and pup, that specify enzymes involved in the catabolism of nucleosides and deoxynucleosides in Escherichia coli are known to be very closely linked in the order dra-tpp-drm-pup. By infecting cells with the phage Mu-1 and isolating low-thymine-requiring derivatives of a strain lacking thymidylate synthetase and also thymidine-resistant mutants of a dra-strain, it has been possible to select for strains in which Mu-1 is inserted in this gene cluster. Making use of the polar effect of Mu-induced mutations on more distal genes in the same transcriptional unit, evidence is presented that dra and tpp are co-transcribed from a promoter to the left of dra, and drm and pup are co-transcribed from a promotor located between tpp and drm. Residual levels of purine nucleoside phosphorylase in drm- mutants induced by phage Mu seem to indicate that a weak promotor lies between drm and pup. From a strain in which Mu-1 is inserted in drm, a mutant has been isolated that has a deletion extending into tpp. Since this strain lacks thymidylate synthetase, it is unable to grow on minimal medium containing thymine. Mutants isolated from this strain that can grow on minimal medium containing thymine have been shown to have increased levels of the enzyme uridine phosphorylase.

Location of trpR mutations in the serB-thr region of Salmonella typhimurium

Tryptophan biosynthesis in Salmonella is controlled by at least one regulatory gene, trpR, which is cotransducible with thr genes and not with the trp operon. Mutations in trpR cause derepression of tryptophan enzyme synthesis and confer resistance to growth inhibition by 5-methyltryptophan. Nineteen trpR mutations were mapped with respect to thrA and serB markers by two-point (ratio) and three-point transduction tests. The results are all consistent with the site order serB80-trpR-thrA59 on the Salmonella chromosome. Very low or undetectable levels of recombination between different trpR mutations have so far prevented the determination of fine structure in the trpR gene. Thirteen other 5-methyltryptophan-resistant mutants previously found not to be cotransducible with either the trp operon or thrA, and designated trpT, were also used in these experiments. Lack of cotransducibility with thrA was confirmed, and no linkage with serB was detected. The nature and location of trpT mutations remain obscure.

Orientation of the deo genes and the serB locus in Salmonella typhimurium

In Salmonella typhimurium, the order of the deo genes with respect to the serB locus has been determined as deoC-deoA-deoB-deoD-serB-thr.

Regulation of thymidine metabolism in Escherichia coli K-12: studies on the inducer and the coordinateness of induction of the enzymes

A study was made of the regulation of three enzymes that act sequentially in the metabolism of thymidine in Escherichia coli K-12. Under a variety of conditions, two of the enzymes, thymidine phosphorylase and deoxyribose-5-phosphate aldolase, were found to be synthesized coordinately. However, the third enzyme, phosphodeoxyribomutase, was synthesized noncoordinately with the other two enzymes under the same conditions. In addition, the mutase could be fully induced, whereas basal levels of the phosphorylase and the aldolase were maintained. These findings indicate that two operons comprise the genes concerned with the reversible pathway leading from thymidine to acetaldehyde and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate. In addition to thymidine, it was found that acetaldehyde was an external inducer of these enzymes. The results of induction experiments performed on wild-type cells and mutants defective in the mutase or the aldolase, with thymidine or acetaldehyde as exogenous inducers, strongly suggest that deoxyribose-5-phosphate is more proximal to the intracellular inducer than is thymidine, deoxyribose-1-phosphate, or acetaldehyde.