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Genetic and physical studies of lambda transducing bacteriophage carrying the beta subunit gene of the Escherichia coli ribonucleic acid polymerase.

The prophage lambdac1857 was inserted into the bfe gene located near rif (the structural gene for the beta subunit of deoxyribonucleic acid [DNA]-dependent ribonucleic acid polymerase) on the Escherichia coli chromosome. Induced lysates (low-frequency transducing lysates) of such a lysogen contained defective lambda phage particles (lambdadrif+) that can specifically transduce the wild-type rif+ gene. Upon transduction into a recipient strain carrying recA, heterogenotes harboring both the wild-type and the mutant rif genes were isolated. Rec+ derivatives of these heterogenotes produce high-frequency transducing lysates that contain lambdadrif+ and normal active phages at a ratio of 1 to 2. The results of marker rescue experiments and of density determination with several transducing phages indicate that most of the late genes are deleted and replaced by a segment of the chromosomal DNA carrying the bfe-rif region. The length of the chromosomal segment seems to vary between approximately 0.5 and 0.6% of the total bacterial DNA among the three independently isolated lambdadrif+ phages. Electron microscopy of heteroduplex DNA consisting of one strand from lambdadrif+-6 and the other from lambdaimm-21 phages directly confirmed that most of the phage DNA of the "left arm" was replaced by the bacterial DNA. The heteroduplex study also demonstrated that the integration of prophage lambda into the bfe region occurred at the normal cross-over point within the phage attachment site.

Centrifugation, Density Gradient↗

Selective retention of recombinant plasmids coding for human insulin.

Plasmids may be lost from Escherichia coli K-12 hosts that are cultured without selection for plasmid retention. This is particularly true for chimeric plasmids that incorporate genes for human insulin into vectors derived from pBR322. The cIts857 gene of bacteriophage lambda was inserted into the bla gene of the human-insulin-coding plasmids, pIA7 delta 4 delta 1, pIB7 delta 4 delta 1 and pHI7 delta 4 delta 1, generating the new plasmids pPR17, pPR18 and pPR19, respectively, which produced the thermosensitive lambda repressor. The cI gene was downstream from the pM and pbla promoters, so that it may have been expressed from either or both promoters. Separate E. coli K-12 RV308 host strains containing the new recombinants were lysogenized with the repressor-defective bacteriophage lambda cI90. Loss of the plasmid from the lysogens causes concomitant loss of the lambda repressor and cell death, because the prophage is induced to enter the lytic growth cycle. The system effectively forces retention of the plasmid in all viable cells in the culture.

Bacterial Proteins↗

Isolation and crystallization of lambda exonuclease.

lambda Exonuclease is a deoxyribonuclease induced by bacteriophage lambda. Mutations in the structural gene for the protein affect general recombination and indicate a possible function for the enzyme. A large scale isolation procedure was employed to purify enough enzyme from a heat-induced lambda lysogen for X-ray crystallographic analysis. Analytical ultracentrifugation and SDS-polyacrylamide electrophoresis revealed that lambda exonuclease is a tetramer with molecular mass 107,000 Da. Crystallization trials produced morphologically perfect crystals of a size suitable for X-ray diffraction studies. Cubic crystallographic symmetry was indicated by the lack of birefringence when the crystals were inspected with polarized light. X-ray precession photographs indicated that lambda exonuclease crystallizes in a space group of P4(1)32, or its enantiomorph P4(3)32, with 24 tetramers in the unit cell of edge 210 A.

Bacteriophage lambda↗

Cloning and expression of putative cytotonic enterotoxin-encoding genes from Aeromonas hydrophila.

A genomic library from a diarrheal isolate, SSU, of Aeromonas hydrophila was constructed in a cosmid vector, pHC79, and in bacteriophage lambda EMBL3. Cell lysates from various Escherichia coli clones containing the recombinant cosmid were examined for their ability to elongate Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells, which is a typical enterotoxic response. Based on restriction analysis, a 4.0-kb SalI DNA fragment from one of the clones that exhibited enterotoxic activity was subcloned into a bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase/promoter hyperexpression system. The cell lysate from this E. coli [pSL24] clone caused CHO cells to elongate and revealed the presence of a major 35-kDa polypeptide by [35S]methionine labeling and sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide-gel electrophoresis (PAGE). The toxin was biologically heat labile, losing all activity within 20 min at 56 degrees C. In addition, another enterotoxin-producing clone, E. coli[pSBS32], was isolated from cosmid and lambda bacteriophage libraries. We localized this heat-stable (56 degrees C/20 min) enterotoxin to a 4.8-kb SalI-BamHI fragment. Both enterotoxins caused elevation of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) in CHO cells. The DNA fragments encoding these enterotoxins did not hybridize with each other. However, a 4.8-kb SalI-BamHI DNA fragment encoding a heat-stable enterotoxin hybridized to a 3.5-kb BamHI DNA fragment of a plasmid, pHPC100, that contained a cytotonic enterotoxin-encoding gene isolated from A. trota. Our data suggest Aeromonas species produce different structural types of cytotonic enterotoxins that are functionally similar.

Aeromonas hydrophila↗

Production of a functional eukaryotic enzyme in Escherichia coli: cloning and expression of the yeast structural gene for imidazole-glycerolphosphate dehydratase (his3).

A cloned segment of yeast DNA containing the structural gene for imidazoleglycerolphosphate dehydratase (D-erythro-imidazoleglycerolphosphate hydro-lase, EC 4.2.1.19) is transcribed and translated in Escherichia coli with sufficient fidelity to produce functional enzyme. This segment of yeast DNA was isolated as a viable molecular hybrid of bacteriophage lambda (lambdagt-Sc2601) which complements a nonrevertible hisB auxotroph of E. coli lacking dehydratase activity. The equivalent segments of DNA cloned from two independent his3 mutants of yeast lacking IGP dehydratase activity do not complement the hisB auxotroph. The two nonfunctional his3 alleles cloned in bacteriophage lambda can be recombined in E. coli to generate a hybrid phage which complements the hisB auxotroph. The dehydratase activity produced in E. coli by the cloned segment of yeast DNA strongly resembles the activity found in yeast.

DNA, Recombinant↗

An accessory role for Escherichia coli integration host factor: characterization of a lambda mutant dependent upon integration host factor for DNA packaging.

Bacteriophage lambda grows lytically on Escherichia coli defective for integration host factor, a protein involved in lambda site-specific recombination and the regulation of gene expression. We report the characterization of a mutant, lambda cos154, that, unlike wild-type lambda, is defective for growth in integration host factor-defective E. coli. The cis-dominant mutation in lambda cos154 is a single base pair change in a region of hyphenated dyad symmetry close to the lambda left cohesive end; this mutation prevents DNA packaging. We propose the following two alternative roles for this site in lambda DNA packaging: (i) to bind an E. coli accessory protein required in the absence of integration host factor or (ii) to bind the phage-encoded terminase protein that is essential for DNA packaging.

Bacterial Proteins↗

The sigma(70) subunit of RNA polymerase is contacted by the (lambda)Q antiterminator during early elongation.

The Q protein of bacteriophage lambda is a transcription antiterminator that modifies the elongation properties of E. coli RNA polymerase (RNAP). To do this, DNA-bound (lambda)Q must first engage a paused elongation complex. Here we show that this engagement of (lambda)Q with RNAP involves an interaction between (lambda)Q and sigma(70), demonstrating that sigma(70) can be a target of regulation during elongation. Furthermore, we provide evidence that this interaction between (lambda)Q and sigma(70) stabilizes a conformation of RNAP that requires the disengagement of a segment of sigma(70) from the core enzyme. Recent structure-based models posit that the transition from the initiation to the elongation phase of transcription involves the staged displacement of sigma(70) from the RNAP core. Our findings provide support for this proposal.

Bacteriophage lambda↗

Renaturation of denatured lambda repressor requires heat shock proteins.

The temperature-sensitive bacteriophage lambda cI857 repressor protein rapidly renatures after thermal inactivation. E. coli mutants in the heat shock protein genes dnaK, dnaJ, and grpE do not efficiently reactivate heat-denatured repressor. Our results suggest that protein refolding is promoted by heat shock proteins and that such a process is the basis of the homeostatic role played by these proteins in the heat shock response.

Bacteriophage lambda↗

[Photochemical stability of aromatic amino acids under picosecond laser UV-irradiation].

Two-step photochemical decomposition of aromatic amino acids under picosecond laser UV-irradiation was investigated. These results were compared with the photochemical stability of nucleic acid bases. Using the known ratio between the nucleic acid bases and aromatic amino acids in native bacteriophages lambda and phi X174 it was shown that picosecond laser UV-inactivation of viruses occurred due to the photodegradation of nucleic acid.

Amino Acids↗

A gene cassette for adapting Escherichia coli strains as hosts for att-Int-mediated rearrangement and pL expression vectors.

A cassette of genes from bacteriophage lambda, when carried on a derivative of bacteriophage Mu, renders strains of Escherichia coli (and in principle other Mu-sensitive bacteria) capable of supporting lambda-based expression vectors, such as rearrangement vectors and pL vectors. The gene cassette contains a temperature-sensitive allele of the repressor gene, cIts857, and a shortened leftward operon comprising, oLpL, N, xis and int. Transfection and lysogenization of this cassette into various host bacteria is mediated by phage Mu functions. Examples of regulated expression of the gene encoding T4 DNA ligase are presented.

Bacteriophage lambda↗

Sensitivity of OR in phage lambda.

We investigate the sensitivity of the right operator in bacteriophage lambda. In particular, the system is probed in the three different regulatory protein concentration-regimes: 1), lysogen (CI dominates); 2), during induction (CI and Cro at comparable concentrations); and 3), after induction (Cro dominates). Systematic perturbations of the protein-operator binding energies show in a lysogen that the activity (production rate) at promoter PRM is robust to variations, in contrast to PR, where the sensitivity is high. Both promoters, however, show large sensitivity in regimes 2 and 3. In all regimes we identify several suppressors, meaning that for a given large perturbation (+/-2 kcal/mol) of one binding energy, there exist compensating perturbation(s) that restore the wild-type activity.

Bacteriophage lambda↗

DNA looping generated by DNA bending protein IHF and the two domains of lambda integrase.

The multiprotein-DNA complexes that participate in bacteriophage lambda site-specific recombination were used to study the combined effect of protein-induced bending and protein-mediated looping of DNA. The protein integrase (Int) is a monomer with two autonomous DNA binding domains of different sequence specificity. Stimulation of Int binding and cleavage at the low affinity core-type DNA sites required interactions with the high affinity arm-type sites and depended on simultaneous binding of the sequence-specific DNA bending protein IHF (integration host factor). The bivalent DNA binding protein is positioned at high affinity sites and directed, by a DNA bending protein, to interactions with distant lower affinity sites. Assembly of this complex is independent of protein-protein interactions.

Bacterial Proteins↗

Xis protein binding to the left arm stimulates excision of conjugative transposon Tn916.

Tn916 and related conjugative transposons are clinically significant vectors for the transfer of antibiotic resistance among human pathogens, and they excise from their donor organisms using the transposon-encoded integrase ((Tn916)Int) and excisionase ((Tn916)Xis) proteins. In this study, we have investigated the role of the (Tn916)Xis protein in stimulating excisive recombination. The functional relevance of (Tn916)Xis binding sites on the arms of the transposon has been assessed in vivo using a transposon excision assay. Our results indicate that in Escherichia coli the stimulatory effect of the (Tn916)Xis protein is mediated by sequence-specific binding to either of its two binding sites on the left arm of the transposon. These sites lie in between the core and arm sites recognized by (Tn916)Int, suggesting that the (Tn916)Xis protein enhances excision in a manner similar to the excisionase protein of bacteriophage lambda, serving an architectural role in the stabilization of protein-nucleic acid structures required for strand synapsis. However, our finding that excision in E. coli is significantly enhanced by the host factor HU, but does not depend on the integration host factor or the factor for inversion stimulation, defines clear mechanistic differences between Tn916 and bacteriophage lambda recombination.

Bacterial Proteins↗

[Possible mechanism of specific protein-nucleic acid interaction].

It has been supposed that stereochemical fitness of amino acids into the cavities associated with their codons is used for specific recognition of nucleic acids by the proteins. In accordance with this hypothesis, amino acid side chains can insert into the cavity resulting from inverting the middle base of a nucleotide triplet in DNA. Certain experimental data seem to support the hypothesis. A model of specific binding between cro-protein from bacteriophage lambda with OR3 operator region of the bacteriophage has been proposed on the basis of the above hypothesis.

Bacteriophage lambda↗

Analysis of lambda insertions in the fucose utilization region of Escherichia coli K-12: use of lambda fuc and lambda argA transducing bacteriophages to partially order the fucose utilization genes.

Escherichia coli K-12 strains have deletions for the normal lambda integration site were lysogenized with bacteriophage lambda at a site within the L-fucose utilization system (fuc). The frequency of lambda integration at this site is approximately 2 X 10(-8) to 5 X 10(-7). Studies of the lytic properties of these strains indicated very infrequent cell lysis with a relatively low phage burst size. Transductional ability of the phage lysates was found to be normal, comparable to that found in conventional low-frequency transducing lysates. Two major classes of transducing phage were found. One carried the markers argA and fucA (a fucose utilization gene of unknown function previously referred to as fuc-1) and the gene for D-arabinose utilization (dar+). The other carried only fucC, the gene specifying L-fuculose-1-phosphate aldolase. A minor class of phage was found that carried fucA, but not argA or dar+. Upon consideration of the transductional nature of these phage classes, we are proposing that the gene order for the L-fucose utilization system is dar, fucA, (lambda), fucC.

Aldehyde-Lyases↗

Foreign DNA integration. Genome-wide perturbations of methylation and transcription in the recipient genomes.

In hamster cells transgenic for the DNA of adenovirus type 12 (Ad12) or for the DNA of bacteriophage lambda, the patterns of DNA methylation in specific cellular genes or DNA segments remote from the site of transgene insertion were altered. In the present report, a wide scope of cellular DNA segments and genes was analyzed. The technique of methylation-sensitive representational difference analysis (MS-RDA) was based on a subtractive hybridization protocol after selecting against DNA segments that were heavily methylated and hence rarely cleaved by the methylation-sensitive endonuclease HpaII. The MS-RDA protocol led to the isolation of several cellular DNA segments that were indeed more heavily methylated in lambda DNA-transgenic hamster cell lines. By applying the suppressive subtractive hybridization technique to cDNA preparations from nontransgenic and Ad12-transformed or lambda DNA-transgenic hamster cells, several cellular genes with altered transcription patterns were cloned from Ad12-transformed or lambda DNA-transgenic hamster cells. Many of the DNA segments with altered methylation, which were isolated by a newly developed methylation-sensitive amplicon subtraction protocol, and cDNA fragments derived from genes with altered transcription patterns were identified by their nucleotide sequences. In control experiments, no differences in gene expression or DNA methylation patterns were detectable among individual nontransgenic BHK21 cell clones. In one mouse line transgenic for the DNA of bacteriophage lambda, hypermethylation was observed in the imprinted Igf2r gene in DNA from heart muscle. Two mouse lines transgenic for an adenovirus promoter-indicator gene construct showed hypomethylation in the interleukin 10 and Igf2r loci. We conclude that the insertion of foreign DNA into an established mammalian genome can lead to alterations in cellular DNA methylation and transcription patterns. It is conceivable that the genes and DNA segments affected by these alterations depend on the site(s) of foreign DNA insertion.

Adenoviridae↗

Purified lambda regulatory protein cII positively activates promoters for lysogenic development.

The bacteriophage lambda regulatory protein, cII, has been purified and shown to activate positively RNA transcription from the two phage promoters which coordinately regulate phage lysogenic development. To obtain this protein, the cII gene was cloned into a plasmid vector carrying the strong, regulatable lambda phage promoter PL such that it was overproduced to levels approaching 5% of cellular protein.

Bacteriophage lambda↗

Host requirements for growth of lambda-P22 hybrid in Escherichia coli.

The requirements for growth of bacteriophage lambda containing the deoxyribonucleic acid replication region from Salmonella phage P22 were determined in a burst size experiment. The products of genes dnaE, dnaJ, dnaK, dnaY, dnaZ, and seg were required, but not the products of genes dnaA, dnaB, dnaC, and dnaX. This lambda-P22 hybrid phage was also dependent on polA for growth at 32 degrees C.

Bacteriophage lambda↗