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E McFall

Publications and source records attributed to E McFall.

32 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
PubMed1975

Escherichia coli K-12 mutant forming a temperature-sensitive D-serine deaminase.

A single-site mutant of Escherichia coli K-12 able to grow in minimal medium in the presence of D-serine at 30 C but not at 42 C was isolated. The mutant forms a D-serine deaminase that is much more sensitive to thermal denaturation in vitro at temperatures above but not below 47 C than that of the wild type. No detectable enzyme is formed by the mutant at 42 C, however, and very little is formed at 37 C. The mutant enzyme is probably more sensitive to intracellular inactivation at high temperatures than the wild-type enzyme. The mutation lies in the dsdA region. The mutant also contains a dsdO mutation, which does not permit hyperinduction of D-serine deaminase synthesis.

Chromosome Mapping↗
PubMed1975

Isolation and characterization of D-serine deaminase constitutive mutants by utilization of D-serine as sole carbon or nitrogen source.

Mutants constitutive for D-serine deaminase (Dsdase) synthesis were isolated by utilizing D-serine as sole nitrogen or carbon source in the chemostat. This method generated only regulatory constitutive (dsdC) mutants. The altered dsdC gene product in these strains is apparently able to bind D-serine more efficiently than the wild-type dsdC+ gene product--a selective advantage. Constitutive synthesis of Dsdase in all of these dsdC mutants is extremely sensitive to catabolite repression, and catabolite repression is reversed by the addition of D-serine. Of the 15 mutants generated by this method, none are suppressible by supD, supE, or supF. Mutations to a low level of constitutivity (maximal specific activity of 9) occur much more frequently than mutations to a high level (maximal specific activity of 79). High level constitutive synthesis of Dsdase results from the synthesis of an altered dsdC gene product--not from loss of ability to form the dsdC product. Dsdase synthesis is not regulated by the nitrogen supply in the medium, as nitrogen starvation does not result in the derepression of Dsdase synthesis.

Chromosome Mapping↗
PubMed1975

Positive control in the D-serine deaminase system of Escherichia coli K-12.

Two new types of D-serine deaminase (Dsdase)-negative mutants have been isolated and characterized. The first fails to synthesize a functional dsdC gene product as a result of dsdC- (regulator negative) mutations. The mutations lie in the dsdC region, are cis and trans recessive to dsdC+, and give rise to revertants of novel regulatory phenotype. The second class consists of Dsdase-negative lysogens in which the phenotype is the result of the integration of lambdac1857 Sam7 into the dsdC region. Lambda lysates derived from two of the Dsdase-negative lysogens can transduce the structural gene for Dsdase (dsdA) but not the dsdC region. The dsdC+ gene product had no repressor effect on constitutive synthesis in a strain containing a dsdO (initiator constitutive) and a dsdC- mutation. These and other findings indicate that control of Dsdase synthesis is strictly positive. The partial trans effect of the dsdC+ gene product on constitutive synthesis in dsdCc (regulator constitutive) strains can thus be explained by "subunit mixing" between active dsdCc subunits and dsdC+ subunits which are inactive in the absence of the inducer, D-serine. The order of genes in the dsd region is supN-dsdC-dsdP-dsdA-aroC.

Chromosome Mapping↗
PubMed1975

N-terminal amino acid sequences of D-serine deaminases of wild-type and operator-constitutive strains of Escherichia coli K-12.

The N-terminal amino acid sequences of the D-serine deaminases from strains of Escherichia coli K-12 that harbor wild-type and high-level constitutive catabolite-insensitive operator-initiator regions are identical: Met-Ser-GluNH2-Ser-Gly-Arg-His-Cys. This result indicates that the operator-initiator region is probably distinct from the D-serine deaminase structural gene.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1973

Role of adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate and its specific binding protein in the regulation of D-serine deaminase synthesis.

Adenosine 3',5'-cyclic monophosphate (cyAMP) and the cyAMP-binding protein are necessary for efficient induction of d-serine deaminase (Dsdase) synthesis in dsdC(+)dsdO(+) and dsdC dsdO(+) strains of Escherichia coli K-12, and for constitutive synthesis in dsdC dsdO(+) strains. Neither is required in dsdO strains, confirming previous indications that in dsdO mutants Dsdase synthesis is not subject to catabolite repression control. Since efficient Dsdase synthesis in dsdC(+) and dsdC strains that are dsdO(+) requires the cyAMP-binding protein, which acts at the level of transcription in other systems, it is concluded that catabolite repression acts at the level of transcription of the Dsdase structural gene. Since catabolite repression is reversed by the inducer, d-serine in dsdC dsdO(+) strains, it is concluded that induction also acts at the level of transcription in this system. The dsdC strains were found to be much more sensitive to induction by d-serine than are dsdC(+) strains under conditions of catabolite repression, whether the repression was caused by glucose or by loss of ability to form cyAMP or cyAMP-binding protein. This suggests that a d-serine-dsdC complex may be able to replace partially the cyAMP:cyAMP-binding protein action in initiation of Dsdase messenger ribonucleic acid synthesis-a positive control effect.

Carrier Proteins↗
PubMed1973

Metabolism of D-serine in Escherichia coli K-12: mechanism of growth inhibition.

Without significant killing, d-serine at concentrations greater than 50 mug/ml inhibits growth in minimal media of mutants of Escherichia coli K-12 unable to form d-serine deaminase. The mutants eventually recover at lower concentrations. There is no evidence of d-serine toxicity in rich media. Toxicity is partially reversed by l-serine. d-Serine does not interfere with l-serine activation, one-carbon metabolism, or (Cronan, personal communication) formation of phosphatidylserine. Pizer (personal communication) finds, however, that it is a powerful feedback inhibitor of the first enzyme of l-serine biosynthesis. In the presence of l-serine, the residual toxicity is largely and noncompetitively over come by pantothenate, indicating that d-serine inhibits growth by affecting two targets: pantothenate biosynthesis and l-serine biosynthesis. l-Serine causes transient growth inhibition in E. coli K-12. Contaminating l-serine in d-serine preparations contributes to the d-serine inhibitory response.

Bacterial Proteins↗
PubMed1971

Catabolite repression in the D-serine deaminase system of Escherichia coli K-12.

The induced synthesis of d-serine deaminase in Escherichia coli is subject to three catabolic effects: inhibition on inducer uptake, transient repression, and catabolite repression. Inhibition on d-serine uptake is not significant at the d-serine concentration normally used for induction. Transient repression and catabolite repression of d-serine deaminase synthesis are abolished by mutations in dsdCy, which appears to be an operator locus. The decline in the rate of constitutive synthesis observed in dsdCx mutants growing with glycerol as carbon source at temperatures above 37 C is due to catabolite repression. The low level of constitutivity at 37 C and the partial cis dominance of dsdCx mutants are not artifacts of catabolite repression. It is suggested that a product of one of the genes of the dsd operon may regulate the expression of the operon.

Carbon Isotopes↗
PubMed1969

Effect of galactose on beta-galactosidase synthesis in Escherichia coli K-12.

In wild-type strains of Escherichia coli K-12, the rate of thiomethylgalactoside (TMG)-induced beta-galactosidase synthesis is decreased in the presence of galactose or glucose. A spontaneous mutant of a K-12 strain, 58-161, which synthesizes beta-galactosidase at a low rate was isolated. In this mutant, galactose, after a lag of about one generation time, evoked the same final differential rate of enzyme synthesis as did the gratuitous inducer TMG. However, constitutive, TMG-induced and galactose-induced synthesis in the mutant were subject to inhibition by exogenous glucose. It is concluded that repression of beta-galactosidase synthesis derived from glucose is distinct from the inhibition derived from galactose.

Enzyme Induction↗
PubMed1969

Role of lac genes in induction of beta-galactosidase synthesis by galactose.

Strain BL1003, a lacO mutant, synthesizes beta-galactosidase constitutively at a low rate. The enzyme is further inducible by d-galactose to the same differential rate as is seen in the presence of an optimal concentration of thiomethylgalactoside. lacY Mutants derived from strain BL1003 are not inducible by galactose, although they synthesize beta-galactosidase at the low constitutive rate characteristic of the parent. Galactose is a weak inducer of beta-galactosidase synthesis in wild-type Escherichia coli K-12, but it is more effective when the wild type has been preinduced with isopropyl-beta-d-thiogalactoside. Nevertheless, the rise in the differential rate of synthesis in response to galactose in a preinduced wild-type culture is much lower than in strain BL1003. Thus, two factors are involved in the induction of strain BL1003 by galactose: the mutant operator and the constitutive permease. The operator has an altered sensitivity to the i product-galactose complex. The low constitutive level of permease enabled the cells, at the high concentrations of galactose used (5 x 10(-2)m), to maintain a sufficient internal concentration for further induction.

Carbon Isotopes↗
PubMed1967

Dominance studies with stable merodiploids in the D-serine deaminase system of Escherichia coli K-12.

An episome, F32, which carries the genetic markers dsdA(+), the presumed structural gene for d-serine deaminase, dsdC(+), a regulatory locus governing the synthesis of d-serine deaminase, aroC(+), and purC(+) was obtained from strain AB311 of Escherichia coli K-12, and was used to construct appropriate merodiploids with dsdC markers. In all dsdC / dsdC(+) diploids examined, dsdC was found to be cis dominant, trans recessive, to dsdC(+). In two cases, however, the cis dominance was only partial. Moreover, complementation was observed between one of the dsdC markers which is fully cis dominant and one which is partially cis dominant. Because of the size of the dsdC region, the phenotypes of the mutants, and the partial trans dominance of dsdC(+) over some of the dsdC mutations, it is suggested that the dsdC region specifies a product, but that this product does not move with facility through the cytoplasm

Chromosome Mapping↗
PubMed1967

"Position effect" on dominance in the D-serine deaminase system of Escherichia coli K-12.

A completely stable F32 merodiploid has been isolated, which has the dsd genotype dsdA(+)dsdCx3 /F -dsdA(+)dsdC(+). The stabilization apparently does not result from an alteration in the F, or from its integration in the chromosome, but rather from a chromosomal aberration. The stable strain can exist in two forms, which interconvert at low frequency. In one form, the episomal dsd markers are in normal apposition with the chromosomal markers, and in this case cis dominance of dsdCx3 is incomplete. In the other form, the two regions are not in normal apposition, and dsdCx3 is completely cis dominant. A model to explain these findings is presented.

Chromosome Aberrations↗