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B Magasanik

Publications and source records attributed to B Magasanik.

At least 109 records · Page 6Linked to original sources
PubMed1977

Autogenous regulation of the synthesis of glutamine synthetase in Klebsiella aerogenes.

We isolated an F' episome of Escherichia coli carrying the glnA+ gene from K. aerogenes and an F' episome of E. coli carrying the glnA4 allele from K. aerogenes responsible for the constitutive synthesis of glutamine synthetase. Complementation tests with these episomes showed that the glnA4 mutation (leading to the constitutive synthesis of active glutamine synthetase) was in the gene identified by mutations glnA20, glnA51, and glnA5 as the structural gene for glutamine synthetase. By using these merodiploid strains we were able to show that the glnA51 mutation lead to the synthesis of a glutamine synthetase that lacked enzymatic activity but fully retained its regulatory properties. Finally, we discuss a model that explains the several phenotypes associated with mutations such as glnA4 located within the structural gene for glutamine synthetase leading to constitutive synthesis of active glutamine synthetase.

Alleles↗
PubMed1976

L-Asparaginase of Klebsiella aerogenes. Activation of its synthesis by glutamine synthetase.

An L-asparaginase has been purified some 250-fold from extracts of Klebsiella aerogenes to near homogeneity. The enzyme has a molecular weight of 141,000 as measured by gel filtration and appears to consist of four subunits of molecular weight 37,000. The enzyme has high affinity for L-asparagine, with a Km below 10(-5) M, and hydrolyzes glutamine at a 20-fold lower rate, with a Km of 10(-3) M. Interestingly, the enzyme exhibits marked gamma-glutamyltransferase activity but comparatively little beta-aspartyl-transferase activity. A mutant strain lacking this asparaginase has been isolated and grows at 1/2 to 1/3 the rate of the parent strain when asparagine is provided in the medium as the sole source of nitrogen. This strain grows as well as the wild type when the medium is supplemented with histidine or ammonia. Glutamine synthetase activates the formation of L-asparaginase. Mutants lacking glutamine synthetase fail to produce the asparaginase, and mutants with a high constitutive level of glutamine synthetase also contain the asparaginase at a high level. Thus, the formation of asparaginase is regulated in parallel with that of other enzymes capable of supplying the cell with ammonia or glutamate, such as histidase and proline oxidase. Formation of the asparaginase does not require induction by asparaginase and is not subject to catabolite repression.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗
PubMed1976

Ammonia-sensitive mutant of Klebsiella aerogenes.

We have isolated a temperature-sensitive mutant of Klebsiella aerogenes unable to grow aerobically at 42 C in standard glucose minimal medium containing 0.03 M ammonium sulfate as a source of nitrogen. This strain, MK810, will grow at this temperature in significantly lower concentrations of ammonia (1 mM) or when ammonia is replaced by a growth rate-limiting source of nitrogen such as histidine or glutamate. A detailed physiological characterization and preliminary biochemical tests support the contention that the mutant has an altered alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase that at the restrictive condition fails to manufacture sufficient succinyl-coenzyme A. We explain the ammonia sensitivity by the dual role of alpha-ketoglutarate as substrate for the formation of succinyl-coenzyme A and glutamate. A defect in the enzyme necessary for the production of succinyl-coenzyme A makes ammonia an overly effective competitor for alpha-ketoglutarate.

Aerobiosis↗
PubMed1976

Regulation of histidase synthesis in intergeneric hybrids of enteric bacteria.

Regulation of the expression of the histidase coded by hutk of Klebsiella aerogenes in Salmonella typhimurium and in Escherichia coli and of the expression of the histidase coded by huts of S. typhimurium in E. coli was investigated. The hutk histidase was found to be sensitive to catabolite repression in K. aerogenes and in E. coli, but insensitive to catabolite repression in S. typhimurium; huts histidase has previously been shown to be catabolite sensitive in all three organisms. The expression of both hutk and huts histidase in E. coli was activated by nitrogen starvation. Apparently, the glutamine synthetase of E. coli may activate the formation of some glutamate- and ammonia-producing enzymes.

Ammonia-Lyases↗
PubMed1976

Glutamate dehydrogenase: genetic mapping and isolation of regulatory mutants of Klebsiella aerogenes.

The gene for glutamate dehydrogenase (gdhD) has been mapped in Klebsiella aerogenes by P1 transduction. It is linked to pyrF and trp with the order pyrF-trp-gdh. Complementation analysis using F' episomes from Escherichia coli suggests an analogous location in E. coli. Two mutants able to produce glutamate dehydrogenase in the presence of high levels of glutamine synthetase have been isolated. One, tightly linked to gdhD, shows normal repression control by glutamine synthetase but produces four times as much glutamate dehydrogenase activity as does the wild type under all conditions tested. The other revertant is not linked to gdhD or glnA.

Ammonia↗
PubMed1976

Regulation of enzyme formation in Klebsiella aerogenes by episomal glutamine synthetase of Escherichia coli.

We studied the physiology of cells of Klebsiella aerogenes containing the structural gene for glutamine synthetase (glnA) of Escherichia coli on an episome. The E. coli glutamine synthetase functioned in cells of K. aerogenes in a manner similar to that of the K. aerogenes enzyme: it allowed the level of histidase to increase and that of glutamate dehydrogenase to decrease during nitrogen-limited growth. The phenotype of mutations in the glnA site was restored to normal by the introduction of the episomal glnA+ gene. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that glutamine synthetase regulates the function of its own structural gene.

Ammonia-Lyases↗
PubMed1976

Deoxyribonucleic acid-binding studies on the hut repressor and mutant forms of the hut repressor of Salmonella typhimurium.

In Salmonella typhimurium the genes coding for the enzymes of histidine utilization (hut) are clustered in two adjacent operons, hutMIGC and hut(P,R,Q)UH. A single repressor, the product of the C gene, regulates both operons by binding at two operator sites, one near M and one in (P,R,Q). The deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-binding activity of the repressor was measured using DNA's containing separate operators. The repressor had greater activity when assayed using DNA containing the operator of the (P,R,Q)UH operon than when assayed using DNA containing the operator of the MIGC operon. The binding to either operator was absent in the presence of the inducer, urocanate. The DNA-binding activities were also determined for two super-repressors. The super-repressors had altered DNA-binding properties, although the self-regulated nature of the repressors complicated the analysis of the results. A purfication procedure for the wild-type repressor is presented. The purified repressor was somewhat unstable, and additional experiments using it were not performed.

Amidohydrolases↗
PubMed1975

Regulation of synthesis of glutamine synthetase by adenylylated glutamine synthetase.

We have examined three mutants of Klebsiella aerogenes whose genetic lesions (glnB, glnD, and glnE) are in loci unlinked to the structural gene for glutamine sythetase (glnA) and in which the control of both the level and state of adenylylation of glutamine synthetase is altered. Each mutation alters a different component of the adenylylation system of glutamine synthetase [L-glutamate:ammonia ligase (ADP-forming), EC 6.3.1.2]. Inability of the cell to deadenylylate glutamine synthetase (glnB and glnD) greatly decreases its production, while inability to adenylylate glutamine sythetase (glnE) results in its constitutively high production. These results together with our previous results indicate that adenylylated glutamine synthetase inhibits the transcription of glnA.

Adenosine Monophosphate↗
PubMed1975

Identification of the structural gene for glutamine synthetase in Klebsiella aerogenes.

Mutations at two sites of the Klebsiella aerogenes chromosome, unlinked by transduction with phages PW52 and P1, result in the lack of enzymatically active glutamine synthetase. A mutation in the glnB site leads to a marked decrease in the formation of an apparently normal enzyme. Some of the mutations in the glnA site lead to the production of enzymatically inactive material capable of reacting with anti-glutamine synthetase serum. The revertant of a glnA mutant was found to produce a glutamine synthetase with less activity and less stability to heat than the enzyme of the wild type. These results locate the structural gene to the production of enzymatically inactive glutamine synthetase antigen, not subject to repression by exogenously added ammonia. This observation suggests that glutamine synthetase is itself involved in the regulation of the synthesis of glutamine synthetase.

Ammonia↗
PubMed1975

Genetic control of glutamine synthetase in Klebiella aerogenes.

Mutations at two sites, glnA and glnB, of the Klebsiella aerogenes chromosome result in the loss of glutamine synthetase. The locations of these sites on the chromosome were established by complementation by episomes of Escherichia coli and by determination of their linkage to other genetic sites by transduction with phage P1. The glnB gene is located at a position corresponding to 48 min on the Taylor map of the E. coli chromosome; it is linked to tryA, nadB, and GUA. The glnA gene is at a position corresponding to 77 min on the Taylor map and is linked to rha and metB; it is also closely linked to rbs, located in E. coli at 74 min, indicating a difference in this chromosomal region between E. coli and K. aerogenes. Mutations in the glnA site can also lead to nonrepressible synthesis of active glutamine synthetase. The examination of the fine genetic structure of glnA revealed that one such mutation is located between two mutations leading to the loss of enzymatic activity. This result, together with evidence that the structural gene for glutamine synthetase is at glnA, suggests that glutamine synthetase controls expression of its own structural gene by repression.

Ammonia↗
PubMed1975

Isolation of super-repressor mutants in the histidine utilization system of Salmonella typhimurium.

Two super-repressor mutations in the histidine utilization (hut) operons of Salmonella typhimurium are described. Cells bearing either of these mutations have levels of hut enzymes that do not increase above the uninduced levels when growth is in the presence of either histidine or the gratuitous inducer imidazole propionate. Both mutations lie in the region of the gene for the hut repressor, hutC, and reverse mutations of both are to the constitutive (repressor-negative) rather than to the inducible (wild type) phenotype. In hybrid merodiploid strains the super-repressor mutations are dominant over either wild-type (hutC+) or repressor-negative (hutC-) alleles. Whereas both super-repressor mutations cause the uninducible synthesis of hut enzymes, the degree of repression is different. One mutation causes repression of enzyme synthesis in one of the two hut operons to a level below the basal, uninduced level of wild-type cells. The other mutation causes repression to a lesser degree than in wild-type cells, so that the hut enzymes are present at a level above the normal basal level; this partially constitutive synthesis is greater for the enzymes of one of the hut operons than for the enzymes of the other. Thus, both mutations apparently result in repressors with altered operator-binding properties, in addition to altered inducer-binding properties.

Alleles↗
PubMed1975

Gene order of the histidine utilization (hut) operons in Klebsiella aerogenes.

P1-sensitive mutants of Klebsiella aerogenes were isolated and the gene order of the hut region was then determined using P1-mediated transduction. The genes are located in the Klebsiella chromosome between gal and bio as in Salmonella typhimurium. The gene order, gal, hutI, hutG, hutC, huU, hutH, bio is also the same as that observed in S. typhimurium.

Chromosome Mapping↗
PubMed1975

Expression of the hut operons of Salmonella typhimurium in Klebsiella aerogenes and in Escherichia coli.

The normal hut (histidine utilization) operons, as well as those with mutations affecting the regulation of their expression, of Salmonella typhimurium were introduced on an F' episome into cells of S. typhimurium and Klebsiella aerogenes whose chromosomal hut genes had been deleted and into cells of Escherichia coli, whose chromosome does not carry hut genes. The episomal hut operons respond in a manner very similar to induction and catabolite repression in all three organisms. The small differences found reflect both different abilities to take up inducers from the medium and different degrees of catabolite repression exerted by glucose.

Amidohydrolases↗
PubMed1975

Regulation of the hut operons of Salmonella typhimurium and Klebsiella aerogenes by the heterologous hut repressors.

In merodiploid strains of Klebsiella aerogenes with chromosomal hut genes of K. aerogenes and episomal hut genes of Salmonella typhimurium, the repressor of either species can regulate the hut operons of the other species. The repression exerted by the homologous repressor on the left-hand hut operon is, in both organisms, stronger than that exerted by the heterologous repressor.

Cell-Free System↗