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M G Sargent

Publications and source records attributed to M G Sargent.

44 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Morphological phenomena associated with penicillinase induction and secretion in Bacillus licheniformis.

Cells of uninduced Bacillus licheniformis (strain 749) in mid-logarithmic phase have no extensive intracytoplasmic membrane. After induction with cephalosporin C, characteristic organelles that contain tubules and vesicles with single-layered membranes and no visible internal substructure can be seen in thin sections in the periplasm. A magnoconstitutive penicillinase producer (749/C) contains similar structures. It is suggested that they represent a penicillinase secretory apparatus. In the first 15 min after induction, negatively stained preparations of induced 749 show large intracellular vesicles without individual contact with the cell surface. Negatively stained 749/C and fully induced 749 contain invaginations comparable to the structures seen in thin sections. When protoplasts of induced 749 and of 749/C are prepared, vesicles and tubules similar to those seen in thin sections of whole cells are liberated from the cell. Growing protoplasts of induced 749 show massive convolutions of the peripheral membrane, multiple layers of membrane, and characteristic long, slender tubules extending from the protoplast surface. These phenomena are not observed in uninduced 749 except for the production of a relatively small number of tubules. In 749/C, there were fewer convolutions than in induced 749, although tubule production was similar. Multiple layers of membrane were not observed in 749/C. The relation of the penicillinase secretory structures to mesosomes and to secretory structures of other organisms is discussed.

Bacillus↗

Localization of cell-bound penicillinase in Bacillus licheniformis.

When protoplasts are prepared from Bacillus licheniformis (strain 749/C, constitutive for penicillinase), approximately 60% of the cell-bound penicillinase is released. The remainder is retained by the protoplast and cannot be removed by washing. This release is specific, in that less than 7% of the cellular reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) dehydrogenase and alpha-glucosidase is liberated by the treatment. The freed penicillinase is excluded from G-200 Sephadex, and it is partially sedimented with a force of 65,000 x g for 20 hr. It is probably attached to characteristic tubular and vesicular structures with single-layered membranes that are comparable to structures previously described in intact penicillinase-forming cells. The specific activity of the organelle is more than six times that of twice washed peripheral membrane; furthermore, about 8% of the protein of the structure is penicillinase. At substrate concentrations (benzylpenicillin) of about one-fifth the K(m) value, whole cells show a slight permeability restriction, although this does not occur in isolated particles and protoplasts.

Bacillus↗

Genetically alterable transport of amethopterin in Diplococcus pneumoniae. I. Physiological properties and kinetics of the wild-type system.

A system of H(3)-amethopterin uptake, physiologically and kinetically resembling active transport, has been described in Diplococcus pneumoniae. Uptake by this system has a pH optimum near 6.0, is temperature-dependent, requires a readily available source of energy, and conforms to Michaelis-Menten kinetics. The system showed a K(m) of 0.9 x 10(-6)m and a V(max) of 1.9 x 10(-13) moles per min per mg (dry weight). Both folate and H(2)-folate compete with H(3)-amethopterin for the same system, but to a limited degree. The intracellular concentration of H(3)-amethopterin accumulated at equilibrium was 1.06 x 10(-9) moles/ml or fivefold the external concentration when the latter was limiting, but at least 60-fold the internal concentration attained solely by diffusion in the same time interval at 0 C.

Glucose↗

Genetically alterable transport of amethopterin in Diplococcus pneumoniae. II. Impairment of the system associated with various mutant genotypes.

Six mutations determining resistance to amethopterin were examined for their effects on the active transport of the drug. In strains bearing each of the mutations and exhibiting resistance levels varying from 10- to 100-fold, transport at limiting concentrations of H(3)-amethopterin was reduced from 2.5 to 10 times the rate characteristic of the wild type. Kinetic analysis of transport showed an increase in the value for K(m) of the system in all of the mutants. Values for the wild-type system were 0.9 x 10(-6)m and for the mutants varied between 2.5 x 10(-6)m and 9.0 x 10(-6)m. Values for V(max) were approximately the same for each system. The mutant transport systems also exhibited a shift in pH optimum from near 6.0 (wild-type) to below 5.0. The results were interpreted as an alteration in the binding properties of the permease in the mutant strains.

Biological Transport↗

Abelson-transformed fibroblasts contain nuclear phosphotyrosyl-proteins which preferentially bind to murine DNA.

Protein-tyrosine kinases, either in the form of growth-factor receptors or as the polypeptide products of oncogenes, appear to be important in the regulation of cell growth and transformation. A major question, however, is how their substrates mediate changes in gene expression (reviewed in refs 6-8). Because binding of proteins to specific DNA sequences represents the most direct mechanism for regulating transcription, we have investigated the possibility that some DNA-binding proteins may be substrates of protein-tyrosine kinases. Here, we present evidence for nuclear phosphotyrosyl-proteins in murine fibroblasts transformed by the v-abl protein-tyrosine kinase. Furthermore, we have found that these proteins are not significantly phosphorylated in normal NIH 3T3 cells. Finally, using affinity competition chromatography with bacterial and mouse DNA, we have demonstrated that some of these proteins preferentially bind to mouse DNA. The identification of phosphotyrosyl-proteins with selective DNA-binding properties suggests a possible mechanism through which protein-tyrosine kinases may effect changes in gene transcription.

Abelson murine leukemia virus↗