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F Gigliani

Publications and source records attributed to F Gigliani.

17 recordsLinked to original sources

The uvp1 gene of plasmid pR cooperates with mucAB genes in the DNA repair process.

We show that a DNA fragment that contains the uvp1 gene of the plasmid pR directs the synthesis in Escherichia coli minicells of a protein of apparent molecular weight 20 kDa. Inspection of the nucleotide sequence of the region reveals an open reading frame that has the capacity to encode a protein of 198 amino acids. The uvp1 gene product has been found, in two different systems, to enhance the recombinational activity of E. coli cells. We have also observed a striking similarity to resolvase and invertase proteins. The significance of this finding for the function of the uvp1 gene product requires further investigation. We conclude that the uvp1 gene encodes a 20 kDa protein which appears to be responsible for enhancement of both UV survival and recombinational activity in E. coli.

Amino Acid Sequence

The pR plasmid: a tool for studying DNA repair and mutagenesis in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.

The pR plasmid, a derivative of R46 plasmid, offers the possibility to have an experimental approach to three important problems related to UV repair and mutagenesis. By using this plasmid we were able to show: a) the pR mucAB genes need the cooperation of uvpl gene product to carry out their UV repair function; b) the expression of mucAB genes is regulated not only by lexA gene, but by a gene localized in the rep region of pR itself. This gene acts as an antirepressor of lexA; c) mammalian cells show an enhanced resistance to UV light when transformed by pR plasmid carrying the mucAB genes.

Animals

The rep region of pR plasmid regulates the expression of SOS system.

By using an artificial hybrid between phage lambda and the pR plasmid, we have shown that the rep region of the pR plasmid encodes a function which regulates the expression of the muc genes (plasmid genes that are under the negative control of lexA and responsible for an increased rate of spontaneous mutagenesis and resistance to UV and chemicals). Expression of the muc genes were monitored by a fusion between the muc promoter and the lacZ structural gene. When E. coli cells containing such a fusion are infected by the hybrid lambda pR phasmid, beta-galactosidase activity is enhanced, indicating that pR encodes an antagonist of lexA. By deletion mapping we have located the gene encoding the antagonist of lexA (bat) in the rep region of the plasmid. The bat gene product can also antagonize the lambda cI repressor as shown by the observation that lambda pR phasmids are virulent on a homoimmune lysogen. We have exploited this latter property to carry out genetic and functional analysis of the bat region. This region is organized as a classical operon where the expression of the bat structural gene is negatively regulated by a repressor gene that encodes a proteic product.

Chromosome Deletion

Cellular response to DNA damage is enhanced by the pR plasmid in mouse cells and in Escherichia coli.

The pR plasmid, which enhances the survival of Escherichia coli C600 exposed to UV light by induction of the SOS regulatory mechanism, showed the same effect when it transformed mouse LTA cells (tk-, aprt-). With Tn5 insertion mutagenesis which inactivates UV functions in the pR plasmid, we recognized two different regions of the plasmid, uvp1 and uvp2. These pR UVR- mutants exhibited the same effect in LTA transformed cells, demonstrating that resistance to UV light, carried by the pR plasmid, was really due to the expression of these two regions, which were also in the mouse cells. Statistical analysis showed that the expression of the uvp1 and uvp2 regions significantly increased (P less than 0.01) the survival upon exposure to UV light in mouse cells and bacteria. These results might suggest the presence of an inducible repair response to DNA damage in mouse LTA cells.

4-Nitroquinoline-1-oxide

The pR UV+ plasmid, transfected into mammalian cells, enhances their UV survival.

It has been recently reported that the pR plasmid enhances the UV survival in E.coli c600. In order to test whether this function may be expressed also in mammalian cells, LTA (tk- aprt-) mouse cells were cotransformed with pR plasmid DNA and ptk1 plasmid as selectable marker. Tk+ transformants were analyzed for their UV survival and for the presence of pR DNA sequences by blot-hybridization. The results show a correlation between the enhanced UV survival and presence of pR DNA sequences in cotransformed LTA mouse cells.

Adenine Phosphoribosyltransferase

Identification of a protein coded by pR plasmid and involved in SOS repair in E. coli.

The TP120 plasmid is known to determine enhanced UV survival in E. coli wild type an uvrB and PolA mutants but not in RecA mutant. In order to analyze the function involved in the SOS repair, we have constructed a new plasmid named pR derived by cleavage of TP120 with Hind III endonuclease. This new plasmid maintains the Ap and UV resistance. The insertion of Tn5 transposon in the plasmid allows to select several pR::Tn5 plasmids whose UV resistance was inactivated by the transposition. The comparison of the protein synthesis in the minicells of the pR and pR::Tn5 shows that the pR codes for a 22.000 M.W. dalton protein which is absent in protein pattern of pR::Tn5.

Bacterial Proteins

The pR plasmid: a tool for discriminating between DNA lesions induced by different types of cytotoxic agents in cultured mammalian cells.

The LA-D cells, obtained by cotransformation of LTA mouse cells (tk- aprt-) with pR plasmid and with tk gene as selective marker, are significantly more resistant to UV light and 4-nitroquinoline-N-1-oxide than LTA control cells. In this work, we report that the LA-D cells exhibit different degrees of response to various DNA-damaging agents: wild-type survival to mitomycin, increased sensitivity to bleomycin, cis-diamminedichloroplatinum and N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine. The pR plasmid could, therefore, play an important role in the DNA-repair mechanisms that modulate the cytotoxic effect of the DNA-inhibitory agents. The possible interactions between pR plasmid products and the different repair enzymes involved are discussed.

Animals