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K Mise

Publications and source records attributed to K Mise.

107 records · Page 6Linked to original sources

Recombination between two IS/s flanking the r-determinant of R100-1: involvement of dor and recA gene functions in Salmonella typhimurium.

Drug resistance genes of the r-determinant component of a composite R plasmid R100-1 were frequently lost in Salmonella typhimurium. Various deletion mutants were analyzed by restriction endonuclease cleavage, Southern blotting, and hybridization techniques. The loss of the r-determinant was found to be the result of a reciprocal recombination between the two IS/s flanking the r-determinant. This recombination depended upon both dor and recA gene functions.

Base Sequence↗

Absence of a protein constituent and occurrence of an oversized DNA genome in a high density mutant particle of phage P22.

Mutants of P22 phage with abnormal density in CsCl solution (P22ndc phage) were analyzed in detail for this report. Two dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed that wild-type P22ndc+ phage virions contained a new protein (gpU) in addition to nine already identified proteins, while P22ndc lacked gpU. The molecular weight of gpU was essentially the same as that of gp5 (45,500), and one mature virion of phage P22ndc+ contained as many as 30-50 molecules of gpU. As P22ndc is a plaque-forming phage, gpU cannot be essential for the growth and assembly of P22 phage. Both genetical and biochemical analysis of the phage DNA in the virion revealed that P22ndc phage contained 2%-4% longer DNA than wild type P22ndc+. A model is presented to account for the formation of P22ndc phage.

DNA, Viral↗

Characterization of bacteriophage j2 of Salmonella typhi as a generalized transducing phage closely related to coliphage P1.

Phage j2, a lysogenic phage in Salmonella typhi J2, was shown to produce tiny plaques on various Vi type strains of S. typhi, to be a generalized transducing phage, and to have many characteristics including a serological one in common with phage P1 of Escherichia coli. Lysogenization of various S. typhi type strains with j2 or P1-group phages usually resulted in the alteration of the phage types of the S. typhi strains, except that phage j2 did not cause alteration of type 53. Phage j2 transduced, at high frequencies, much larger DNA molecules (up to at least 70 megadaltons) than those known to be transduced by Salmonella phage P22: this should prove useful for the genetic analysis of S. typhi.

Adsorption↗

Electron microscopic observation of new transposable elements inserted into P22 phage genome from R plasmids.

By using phage P22spl, a deletion mutant of phage P22, the structures of two new transposons on P22 genomes were studied by the electron microscopic heteroduplex method. One of these was the Cm (chloramphenicol) transposon derived from an R plasmid, NR1, and the other the Km (kanamycin) transposon frin obr502. the heteroduplex between P22 phage DNAs with and without the Cm transposon revealed that the Cm transposon was similar in structure to the Tn9 element, a well-known Cm transposon derived from the R plasmid pMS14. On the other hand, the Km transposon of pNR502 was quite different in structure from other Km transposons reported previously. This transposon consists of a 6.8 kilobase (kb) segment of DNA, in which a short inverted repeat is contained. The heteroduplex experiments showed that a 4.5 kb segment of DNA was deleted from the P22 genome in the P22spl genome. Because of a shorter unit length of the genome, phage P22spl is considered to be useful of assaying various kinds of transposable elements.

Chromosome Deletion↗

Isolation and characterization of a new generalized transducing bacteriophage different from P1 in Escherichia coli.

A new generalized transducing bacteriophage in the Escherichia coli system was isolated and characterized. This phage, designated D108, makes clear plaques on E. coli K-10, K-12, K-12(P1kc), K-12(D6), B/r, C, and 15 T(-), and Shigella dysenteriae. The plaque of phage D108 is larger in size than that of phage P1kc. Electron-microscopic observation revealed that phages D108 and P1kc are morphologically different from each other, suggesting that phage D108 belongs to a phage group different from phage P1. The fact that all of the 10 markers tested were transduced by phage D108 indicates that this phage is a generalized transducing phage in the E. coli system. The transduction frequency by phage D108 of chromosomal markers and of a drug resistance factor (R factor) ranged from 2 x 10(-6) to 3 x 10(-8) and 3 x 10(-9) to 6 x 10(-10) per phage, respectively. The cotransduction frequency of the thr and leu markers was 2.8% for phage P1kc and 1.5% for phage D108. The CM and TC markers (chloramphenicol-resistant and tetracycline-resistant markers, respectively) of the R factor were not cotransduced by phage D108, but the markers were generally cotransduced by phage P1kc. The results suggest that the transducing particle of phage D108 contains a smaller amount of host deoxyribonucleic acid than does phage P1kc.

Bacteriophages↗

Temperature-sensitive chloramphenicol acetyltransferase from Escherichia coli carrying mutant R factors.

Bacteria carrying temperature-sensitive mutant R factors for chloramphenicol resistance were isolated. In the presence of chloramphenicol, these bacteria grew at 34 C but not at 43 C. The mutations in the chloramphenicol resistance gene of the R factors affected neither the resistance of the bacteria to dihydrostreptomycin and tetracycline nor the stability of the R factors at 43 C. The chloramphenicol acetyltransferase obtained from Escherichia coli K-12 carrying the mutant R factors was heat-labile as compared with that from a strain carrying the wild-type R factor. We could not find chloramphenicol acetyltransferase activity in 17 chloramphenicol-sensitive and 5 -resistant strains (selected in vitro) of E. coli examined. The results strongly suggest that the chloramphenicol resistance gene of the R factors is the structural gene of the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase rather than the genome controlling the expression of a chromosomal determinant for the enzyme. Furthermore, the studies confirm that the existence of the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase is the primary cause of chloramphenicol resistance of bacteria carrying the R factor. Both the enzyme activity producing the monoacetyl derivative from chloramphenicol and the subsequent formation of the diacetate from the monoacetyl product were heat-labile to the same degree. The results suggest that only one enzyme participates in two steps of chloramphenicol acetylation.

Acyltransferases↗

Occurrence of chloramphenicol-acetylating enzymes in various gram-negative bacilli.

The occurrence of a chloramphenicol-acetylating enzyme, similar to that found in Escherichia coli, carrying an R factor was investigated in various gram-negative bacilli. The acetylated products of chloramphenicol were identified by chromatography and quantitatively assayed after benzene extraction. The investigated strains were of the Salmonella-Arizona group, the Klebsiella-Aerobacter group, Serratia marcescens, the Proteus group, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, most of which were isolated from 1947 to 1957. Both chloramphenicol-sensitive and -resistant strains were included, but none of them was able to transfer chloramphenicol resistance by conjugation. In the Proteus group, a significant level of a chloramphenicol-acetylating enzyme was found in most strains, whether they were sensitive or resistant to chloramphenicol; the resistant strains showed higher levels of the enzyme. Some chloramphenicol-sensitive strains lacked this enzyme. Only the sensitive strains containing the enzyme could easily produce chloramphenicol-resistant mutants with higher enzyme activity. Thus, the chloramphenicol resistance of this group can be reasonably explained on the basis of the chloramphenicol-acetylating enzyme. All of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains were resistant to chloramphenicol, and most strains showed low levels of the enzyme (which, however, did not appear sufficient to explain their resistance). All of the strains of the other groups (except one strain of Enterobacter cloacae) lacked the enzyme, although most strains of the Klebsiella-Aerobacter group and of S. marcescens were resistant to chloramphenicol. With respect to the origin of the resistance gene of the R factor, it is noteworthy that the strains of Proteus mirabilis isolated in 1947 possessed this enzyme before the discovery of chloramphenicol.

Acetates↗