bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Regulation of nitrate reductase levels in the cyanobacteria Anacystis nidulans, Anabaena sp. strain 7119, and Nostoc sp. strain 6719
Authors: Herrero A , Flores E , Guerrero M G
Published: January 2020

The effect of the nitrogen source on the cellular activity of ferredoxin-nitrate reductase in different cyanobacteria was examined. In the unicellular species Anacystis nidulans, nitrate reductase was repressed in the presence of ammonium but de novo enzyme synthesis took place in media containing either nitrate or not nitrogen source, indicating that nitrate was not required as an obligate inducer. Nitrate reductase in A. nidulans was freed from ammonium repression by L-methionine-D,L-sulfoximine, an irreversible inhibitor of glutamine synthetase. Ammonium-promoted repression appears therefore to be indirect; ammonium has to be metabolized through glutamine synthetase to be effective in the repression of nitrate reductase. Unlike the situation in A. nidulans, nitrate appeared to play an active role in nitrate reductase synthesis in the filamentous nitrogen-fixing strains Anabaena sp. strain 7119 and Nostoc sp. strain 6719, with ammonium acting as an antagonist with regard to nitrate.
Structure and function of the PHO82-pho4 locus controlling the synthesis of repressible acid phosphatase of Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Authors: Toh-e A , Inouye S , Oshima Y
Published: January 2020

pho4 mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, although rare among phosphatase-negative mutants isolated from wild-type strains, were isolated efficiently from pho80, pho85, or pho80 pho85 strains. The distribution of these pho4 mutants over the pho4 locus was determined by analyzing random spores of two- and three-factor crosses. The pho4-4 mutation confers temperature-sensitive synthesis of repressible acid phosphatase. An intragenic suppressor for the pho4-12 allele results in the temperature-sensitive synthesis of repressible acid phosphatase. Recombination between these sites occurs at 1.0 to 3.0%, the highest for any pair of sites within the pho4 locus. All these results strongly indicate that the information of the pho4 locus is translated into a protein. The PHO82 site was mapped inside the pho4 locus by random spore analysis. The order met10-pho4-1PHO82-1-pho4-9 on the right arm of chromosome VI was confirmed by tetrad analysis. Doubly heterozygous diploids, pho3 PHO82c PHO4+/pho3 pho82+ pho4, produce variable amounts of repressible acid phosphatase under repressive conditions depending on the combination of PHO82c and pho4 alleles. This phenomenon may reflect the constitutive production of the pho82+-pho4 product in the repressed condition, which interferes with the function of the PHO82c-PHO4+ product. The earlier model for the function of the PHO82-pho4 cluster, in which the PHO82 site acts as an operator of the pho4 gene, has been revised to a model in which the PHO82 site codes for the part of the pho4 protein that has affinity for the regulatory protein encoded by the pho80 and pho85 genes.
In vitro activation of inactive nitrogenase component I with molybdate
Authors: Pienkos P T , Klevickis S , Brill W J
Published: January 2020

When Azotobacter vinelandii was derepressed for nitrogenase synthesis in the presence of WO42- rather than MoO42-, it synthesized active component II and inactive component I of nitrogenase. This inactive component I could be activated in vitro with the iron-molybdenum cofactor or with MoO42-. The latter reaction required adenosine 5'-triphosphate and was inhibited by adenosine 5'-diphosphate. FeMo cofactor and MoO42- produced different levels of activation, but there was no evidence that they acted upon different species of demolybdo component I. Rather, it may be that an additional factor necessary for MoO42-mediated activation but not for FeMo cofactor-mediated activation was limiting. Mo was inserted into component I during both FeMo cofactor- and MoO42- mediated activations.
Vectorial and nonvectorial transphosphorylation catalyzed by enzymes II of the bacterial phosphotransferase system
Authors: Saier M H , Schmidt M R
Published: January 2020

Vectorial transphosphorylation of hexitols, catalyzed by enzymes II of the bacterial phosphotransferase system, was studied in intact cells and membrane vesicles of Escherichia coli. In strains depleted of phosphoenolpyruvate and unable to metabolize the internal hexitol phosphate, internal mannitol-1-phosphate stimulated uptake of extracellular [14C]mannitol, whereas external mannitol stimulated release of [14C]mannitol from the intracellular [14C]mannitol-1-phosphate pool. The stoichiometry of mannitol uptake to mannitol release was 1:1. Glucitol did not promote release of [14C]mannitol from the mannitol phosphate pool but stimulated release of [14C]glucitol from internal glucitol phosphate pools when the glucitol enzyme II was induced to high levels. In E coli cells and membrane vesicles, both vectorial and nonvectorial transphosphorylation reactions of hexitols and hexoses were demonstrated. The nonvectorial reactions, but not the vectorial reactions, catalyzed by the mannitol and glucose enzymes II, were inhibited by p-chloromercuriphenyl sulfonate, a membrane-impermeable sulfhydryl reagent which inactivates enzymes II. Similarly, glucose-6-sulfate, an inhibitor of the glucose enzyme II-catalyzed transphosphorylation reaction, specifically inhibited the nonvectorial reaction. This compound was shown to be a noncompetitive inhibitor of methyl alpha-glucoside phosphorylation employing phospho-HPr as the phosphate donor. It apparently exerts its inhibitory effect by exclusive binding to the sugar phosphate binding site on the enzyme II complex. The results are consistent with the conclusion that enzymes II can exist in two distinct dispositions in the membrane, one of which catalyzes vectorial transphosphorylation, and the other catalyzes nonvectorial transphosphorylation.
Effect of arsenate on chemotactic behavior of Escherichia coli
Authors: Arai T
Published: January 2020

Escherichia coli cells treated with arsenate cannot tumble. The relationship between cellular adenosine 5'-triphosphate (ATP) level and the ability to tumble has been studied. (i) Cells incubated with arsenate completely lost their tumbling ability, and the cellular ATP level was decreased to less than 0.3 nmol/mg of protein. (ii) Incubation with 10 mM arsenate-1 mM phosphate reduced the cellular ATP level to less than 0.25 nmol/mg of protein. However, the cells were still able to tumble. (iii) Tumbling of the arsenate-treated cells was completely recovered after addition of a slight amount of phosphate, although the ATP level was still as low as 0.2 nmol/mg of protein. (iv) The cellular ATP level of an arsenate-treated uncA mutant (Ca2+,Mg2+-adenosine triphosphatase defective) was lower than 0.1 nmol/mg of protein even after the addition of 5 5 mM phosphate. However, tumbling ability was almost completely restored upon addition of the phosphate.
Citrate-tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane-mediated release of outer membrane sections from the cell envelope of a deep-rough (heptose-deficient lipopolysaccharide) strain of Escherichia coli O8
Authors: Irvin R T , MacAlister T J , Chan R , Costerton J W
Published: January 2020

A heptose-deficient lipopolysaccharide strain of Escherichia coli O8, strain F515, was found to release portions of its outer membrane when cells were exposed to 10 mM citrate buffer (pH 2.75) for 30 min and subsequently exposed to 100 mM tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane buffer (pH 8.00). The outer membrane component release was found to be composed of protein, lipopolysaccharide, phospholipid (cardiolipin, phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylglycerol), and alkaline phosphatase. The outer membrane component was released from the cell envelope in the absence of cell lysis, as no glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase activity or succinic dehydrogenase activity was detected. Morphologically, the outer membrane component appeared to consist of laminar fragments and vesicles which had an associated alkaline phosphatase activity.
Tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane buffer modification of Escherichia coli outer membrane permeability
Authors: Irvin R T , MacAlister T J , Costerton J W
Published: January 2020

The effect of tris(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane (Tris) buffer on outer membrane permeability was examined in a smooth strain (D280) and in a heptose-deficient lipopolysaccharide strain (F515) of Escherichia coli O8. Tris buffer (pH 8.00) was found to increase outer membrane permeability on the basis of an increased Vo of whole-cell alkaline phosphatase activity and on the basis of sensitivity to lysozyme and altered localization pattern of alkaline phosphatase. The Tris buffer-mediated increase in outer membrane permeability was found to be dependent upon the extent of exposure to and concentration of the Tris buffer. The Tris buffer effects were demonstrated not to be due to allosteric activation of cell-associated alkaline phosphatase and were specific for Tris buffer. Exposure of cells to Tris resulted in the release of a limited amount of cell envelope component. Investigators utilizing Tris buffer are cautioned that Tris is not physiologically inert and that it may interact with the system under investigation.
Ultrastructure of the septal complex in hyphae of Cryptococcus laurentii
Authors: Rhodes J C , Kwon-Chung K J , Popkin T J
Published: January 2020

Electron microscopy of hyphae produced by Cryptococcus laurentii revealed typical basidiomycetous dolipore septa between the cells. Parenthesomes were not observed.
Suppression of dnaC alleles by the dnaB analog (ban protein) of bacteriophage P1
Authors: Sclafani R A , Wechsler J A
Published: January 2020

The dnaB analog protein produced by the ban gene of bacteriophage P1 was shown to suppress several Escherichia coli dnaC alleles. Suppression of dnaC7 temperature sensitivity in P1 lysogens of a dnaC7 mutant was complete at all temperatures. For the dnaC2 and dnaC28 alleles, suppression was observed only at intermediate temperatures. Though these intermediate temperatures were sufficient to completely restrict the mutants, at higher temperatures the suppression was not observed. No suppression of the dnaC1 allele was detected. These results have implications concerning the requirement for the dnaB-dnaC complex at the various stages of deoxyribonucleic acid replication.
The region controlling the thermosensitive effect of plasmid Rts1 on host growth is separate from the Rts1 replication region
Authors: Yamamoto T , Finver S , Yokota T , Bricker J , Kaji A
Published: January 2020

Rts1 is a high-molecular-weight (126 x 10(6)) plasmid encoding resistance to kanamycin. It expresses unusual temperature-sensitive phenotypes, which affect plasmid maintenance and replication, as well as host cell growth. We have cloned the essential replication region of Rts1 from pAK8, a smaller derivative which is phenotypically similar to Rts1. Restriction endonuclease digests of isolated pAK8 deoxyribonucleic acid were allowed to "self-ligate" (ligation without an additional cloning vector) and subsequently were used to transform Escherichia coli strain 20SO to kanamycin resistance. Screening of these strains for the phenotypes of thermosensitive host growth and temperature-dependent plasmid elimination demonstrated that these two properties were expressed independently. Furthermore, it was shown that the Rts1 replication locus per se is not necessarily responsible for altered host growth at the nonpermissive temperature. The kanamycin resistance fragment of pAK8 was also cloned into pBR322. Electrophoretic analysis of BamHI restriction enzyme digests of this plasmid and similar digests of an Rts1 miniplasmid has allowed the identification of an 18.6-megadalton fragment carrying the replication locus and a 14.1-megadalton fragment carrying the kanamycin resistance gene.
a/alpha-specific effect on the mms3 mutation on ultraviolet mutagenesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Authors: Martin P , Prakash L , Prakash S
Published: January 2020

A new gene involved in error-prone repair of ultraviolet (UV) damage has been identified in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by the mms3-1 mutation. UV-induced reversion is reduced in diploids that are homozygous for mms3-1, only if they are also heterozygous (MATa/MAT alpha) at the mating type locus. The mms3-1 mutation has no effect on UV-induced reversion either in haploids or MATa/MATa or MAT alpha/MAT alpha diploids. The mutation confers sensitivity to UV and methyl methane sulfonate in both haploids and diploids. Even though mutation induction by UV is restored to wild-type levels in MATa/MATa mms3-1/mms3-1 or MAT alpha/MAT alpha mms3-1/mms3-1 diploids, such strains still retain sensitivity to the lethal effects of UV. Survival after UV irradiation in mms3-1 rad double mutant combinations indicates that mms3-1 is epistatic to rad6-1 whereas non-epistatic interactions are observed with rad3 and rad52 mutants. When present in the homozygous state in MATa/MAT alpha his1-1/his1-315 heteroallelic diploids, mms3-1 was found to lower UV-induced mitotic recombination.
Escherichia coli 987P pilus: purification and partial characterization
Authors: Isaacson R E , Richter P
Published: January 2020

The Escherichia coli somatic pilus, 987P, has been purified after removal by homogenization from a 987P+ enterotoxigenic E. coli. Cell-free pili were precipitated by the addition of MgCl2, collected, and dissolved in MgCl2-free buffer. Five cycles of precipitation and dissolving resulted in a preparation of 987P that was judged to be homogeneous based on electron microscopy and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. In the electron microscope, 987P was rod shaped, having a diameter of 7 nm and an apparent axial hole. Cells and membrane vesicles were not observed in the purified pilus preparation. Electrophoresis of 987P through sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels resulted in a single band when the sample was denatured in the absence of mercaptoethanol and in two bands when the sample was denatured in the presence of mercaptoethanol. The calculated molecular weight of 987 was variable, depending upon the polyacrylamide concentration and whether mercaptoethanol was included in the denaturing solution. Chemically, 987P is composed primarily of protein but also contains an unidentified amino sugar. The amino terminal amino acid of 987P is alanine and its isoelectric point is pH 3.7. 987P possesses no detectable hemagglutinating activity.
Adenylate energy charge in Acholeplasma laidlawii
Authors: Beaman K D , Pollack J D
Published: January 2020

Adenosine 5'-triphosphate, adenosine 5'-diphosphate, and adenosine 5'-monophosphate were produced by Acholeplasma laidlawii B-PG9 growing in modified Edward medium. The adenylate energy charge was calculated to be 0.84 +/- 0.07 and ranged from 0.91 to 0.78 during exponential growth (12 to 24 h). During exponential growth, A. laidlawii contained, at 17.5 h, 2.3 X 10(-17) mol of adenosine 5'-triphosphate per colony-forming unit and, at 16 h, 27.3 nmol of adenosine 5'-triphosphate per mg (dry weight). The medium supported a doubling time of 0.95 h. The molar growth yields (Yglucose = grams [dry weight] per mole of glucose used) were 40.2 +/- 3.4 (16 h) and 57.1 +/- 9.7 (20 h) during midexponential growth. A maximum yield of 8.3 X 10(9) colony-forming units was reached at 24 h, when 56% of the initial concentration of glucose had been used. At 40 h, during the stationary phase, 14.95 +/- 3.75 mumol of glucose per ml of medium had been used. At this time, the culture fluids contained 21.86 +/0 mumol of lactate per ml and 3.14 +/- 0.13 mumol of pyruvate per ml.
Functions in outer and inner membranes of Escherichia coli for ferrichrome transport
Authors: Wookey P J , Hussein S , Braun V
Published: January 2020

Mutants of the fhuA gene of Escherichia coli K-12, which encodes a receptor protein in the outer membrane, took up ferrichrome after exposure to pronase, whereas fhuB mutants remained transport negative. The latter finding supports our previous proposal that fhuB mutants are defective in a function that residues in the cytoplasmic membrane. Cells remained completely viable after treatment with pronase, although they became sensitive to the antibiotic actinomycin.
Isolation and genetic characterization of Escherichia coli mutants defective in propionate metabolism
Authors: Spratt S K , Ginsburgh C L , Nunn W D
Published: January 2020

Escherichia coli mutants defective in propionate metabolism (Prp-) were isolated after mutagenesis with N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine. Prp- mutants demonstrate a phenotypic inability to grow on odd-chain-length fatty acids. The new genetic locus for the Prp- phenotype maps at approximately 98 min on the E. coli chromosome.
Expression of the Serratia marcescens lipoproteins gene in Escherichia coli
Authors: Lee N , Nakamura K , Inouye M
Published: January 2020

The lipoprotein gene (lpp) of Serratia marcescens was cloned in a lambda phage vector (K. Nakamura and M. Inouye, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 77: 1369-1373, 1980). This lpp gene was recloned in plasmid vectors pBR322 and pSC101. When a lipoprotein-deficient (lpp) mutant of Escherichia coli was transformed with pBR322 carrying the S. marcescens lpp gene, cells became nonleaky for ribonuclease, resistant to ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, and sensitive to globomycin. The lipoprotein was found exclusively in the outer membrane fraction. These results indicate that the S. marcescens lipoprotein was normally secreted across the cytoplasmic membrane, modified, and assembled in the E. coli outer membrane. The amount of the free-form lipoprotein produced in this system was three times higher than that produced in lpp + C. coli cells, whereas there was no difference in the amount of the bound-form lipoprotein. On the other hand, lpp E. coli cells which harbored pSC101 carrying the S. marcescens lpp gene produced only one-third of the free-form lipoprotein produced in lpp E. coli cells which harbored pSC101 carrying the E. coli lpp gene. One of the major factors causing this difference in efficiency of gene expression between the lpp genes of S. marcescens and E. coli appears to be a deletion mutation at the transcription termination region found in the cloned S. marcescens lpp gene. The functional half-life of the S. marcescens lpp messenger ribonucleic acid in E. coli was found to be found half that of the E. coli lpp messenger ribonucleic acid.
Genetic and biochemical requirements for chemotaxis to L-proline in Escherichia coli
Authors: Clancy M , Madill K A , Wood J M
Published: January 2020

Chemotaxis to L-proline was examined by the capillary assay, using a set of Escherichia coli strains bearing well-defined defects in the enzymes of proline transport and utilization. Aspartate taxis was measured as a constitutive, control activity whose receptor and transducer requirements are known. Proline chemotaxis showed a pattern of induction more analogous to that of proline dehydrogenase than of that of proline transport, but chemotaxis to proline was eliminated by mutations eliminating either or both of these activities. No response to proline was observed in the absence of a proline concentration gradient or when succinate was provided as an oxidizable carbon source. These data suggest that the chemotactic response to proline results from a direct impact of proline oxidation on the energy metabolism of the cell.
Evidence that the rate of association of adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate to its chemotactic receptor induces phosphodiesterase activity in Dictyostelium discoideum
Authors: Van Haastert P J , Van Der Meer R C , Konijn T M
Published: January 2020

Adenosine 3',5'-monophosphate (cyclic AMP) mediates cell aggregation in Dictyostelium discoideum. Cell aggregation is enhanced by pulses of cyclic AMP. Application of pulses of cyclic AMP to cells that were starved only for 1 h (postvegetative cells) induces enzyme activity. One of the enzymes induced by cyclic AMP pulses is phosphodiesterase. We pulsed postvegetative cells with a set of cyclic AMP derivatives that were selected according to certain conformational and physical-chemical properties, and we measured their effect on the induction of phosphodiesterase activity. The cyclic nucleotide specificity for chemotaxis in the aggregative phase was similar to the specificity for phosphodiesterase induction in the postvegetative phase. The shape of the dose-response curves shows a paradox: the activity of a derivative, when applied at receptor-saturating concentrations, is inversely related to its affinity. These results can be explained by the assumption that the response of the chemoreceptor to different cyclic AMP derivatives is proportional to the frequency of associations (rate receptor) and not to the proportion of occupied receptors (occupation receptor). The characteristics of rate receptors and occupation receptors during chemosensory transduction will be discussed.
Conversion of glucose to fatty acids and methane: roles of two mycoplasmal agents
Authors: Rose C S , Pirt S J
Published: January 2020

Two species of obligately anaerobic mycoplasmas were the major components of a methanogenic glucose-limited enrichment culture. In pure culture, one of these organisms, tentatively named Anaeroplasma sp. strain London, was shown to be responsible for the fermentation of glucose to fatty acids, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide; the other mycoplasma was shown to produce methane from hydrogen and carbon dioxide and was named Methanoplasma elizabethii. This same methanogenic mycoplasma contained a low-molecular-weight fluorescent cofactor which had a maximum light absorbance at 430 nm. When both species of mycoplasmas were grown together on glucose, fermentation products included fatty acids and methane. For the first time, mycoplasmas are implicated as agents of anaerobic degradation and methanogenesis in a sewage sludge digester.
Absence in Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus of the sequence-specific deoxyribonucleic acid methylation that is conferred in Escherichia coli K-12 by the dam and dcm enzymes
Authors: Dreiseikelmann B , Wackernagel W
Published: January 2020

Restriction analysis of plasmid pHV14 deoxyribonucleic acid isolated from Escherichia coli K-12, Bacillus subtilis, and staphylococcus aureus with restriction endonucleases MboI, Sau3AI, and EcoRII was used to study the methylation of those nucleotide sequences which in E. coli contain the major portions of N6-methyladenine and 5-methylcytosine. The results showed that neither B. subtilis nor S. aureus methylates deoxyribonucleic acid at the same sites and nucleotides which are recognized and methylated by dam and dcm enzymes in E. coli K-12.
Isolation and genetic characterization of toxin-deficient mutants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO
Authors: Gray G L , Vasil M L
Published: January 2020

Two independently derived, exotoxin A-deficient (Tox- phenotype), nitroso-guanidine-induced mutants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 were isolated by using sensitive immunological assays. One mutant, designated PAOT10, was detected as a colony which failed to produce a halo of immunoprecipitation in an antiserum-agar assay. The other mutant (PAOT20) was independently isolated and was detected by a negative reaction in a staphylococcal coagglutination assay with protein A-containing staphylococci and affinity-purified antibodies. Both mutants produced parental levels of extracellular protein. However, whereas the qualitative and quantitative compositions of proteins produced by PAOT20 were indistinguishable from those of the parental strain as determined by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and measurement of extracellular protease, there were marked differences between PAOT10 and the parental strain. The mutation in PAOT10 (tox-1) as mapped by linkage analysis was located between trp-6 and proA. In contrast, linkage analysis and cotransduction placed the mutation in PAOT20 (tox-2), very near trp-6. Data are presented which suggest that tox-1 and tox-2 are regulatory loci.
Origin of Haemophilus influenzae R factors
Authors: Laufs R , Riess F C , Jahn G , Fock R , Kaulfers P M
Published: January 2020

The Haemophilus influenzae R plasmids specifying resistance against one, two, or three antibiotics which have emerged in different parts of the world were shown to have closely related but not identical plasmid cores. The gene for ampicillin resistance in the H. influenzae plasmid pKRE5367 is part of a transposon similar to Tn3, which was transposed from pKRE5367 onto RSF1010 in Escherichia coli. An indigenous H. influenzae plasmid (pW266) was isolated. Its properties correspond to those of the H. influenzae R plasmids, except for the presence of a drug resistance transposon. The in vitro-generated H. influenzae R plasmids carrying an ampicillin resistance transposon, a tetracycline resistance transposon, and a transposon for combined tetracycline-chloramphenicol resistance resembled the natural isolates. The findings support the hypothesis that the R plasmids of H. influenzae are of multiclonal evolutionary origin.
A mutant defective in partitioning of composite plasmid Rms201
Authors: Ike Y , Hashimoto H , Mitsuhashi S
Published: January 2020

Escherichia coli harboring mutant plasmids defective in maintenance stability (from the conjugative plasmid Rms201) showed a wide distribution of ampicillin resistance levels, as well as increased frequency of plasmid loss from the cell. The amounts of covalently closed circular deoxyribonucleic acid of mutant plasmid Rms268 and parental plasmid Rms201 per chromosome were 5.3 and 6.1%, respectively. The beta-lactamase activities of strains W3630(Rms268) and W3630(Rms201) were 0.56 and 0.44 U/mg of protein, respectively. Frequency of plasmid loss from W3630(Rms268) was about 0.8 to 1.2% per cell generation, 100 times more than that of the wild-type strain. Ampicillin resistance levels of the colonies harboring the mutant plasmid showed a wide distribution, from low (100 micrograms/ml) to high (1,600 micrograms/ml). A miniplasmid (pMS268) with a mass of 7 X 10(6) daltons and encoding ampicillin resistance was isolated from Rms268. Frequency of pMS268 loss from W3630(pMS268) was about 0.8 to 1.9% per cell generation. W3630(pMS268) also showed a wide range of distribution in the levels of ampicillin resistance. These results indicated that the copies of Rms268 in E. coli did not segregate evenly between daughter cells at cell division and that the gene involved was located on the miniplasmid.
Growth and division of spiroplasmas: morphology of Spiroplasma citri during growth in liquid medium
Authors: Garnier M , Clerc M , Bove J M
Published: January 2020

The helical mycoplasma Spiroplasma citri was examined by electron microscopy with a newly developed transfer technique which preserves the helical morphology of the organism. The smallest viable cell was found to be a two-turn (elementary) helix. During the logarithmic phase of growth, organisms increased in length and divided by constriction, liberating two-turn elementary helices. The most frequently dividing parental helix was one with approximately four turns, yielding two elementary helices. Influence of pH and temperature on the morphology of the organism was also investigated. In unbuffered medium, growth of the organism produced a significant decrease in pH and a consequent formation of abnormal morphological forms and cell lysis. At 37 degrees C, cell division was inhibited, leading to a progressive disappearance of two-turn helices and an increase in the average length of other helices. Finally, helices were never seen to arise from round bodies at any stage of the growth cycle.
Low-Molecular-Weight
O
-Acetylserine Sulfhydrylase and Serine Sulfhydrylase of
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Are the Same Protein
Authors: Yamagata Shuzo
Published: January 2020

Low-molecular-weight
O
-acetyl-
l
-serine sulfhydrylase was purified from a cysteine auxotroph of
Saccharomyces cerevisiae
and was demonstrated to be identical with
l
-serine sulfhydrylase.
Plasmid ColVBtrp maintenance in Erwinia carotovora
Authors: Schukin N N
Published: January 2020

Plasmid ColVBtrp maintenance in Erwinia carotovora cells was followed by measuring kinetics of elimination of plasmid genetic markers and loss of plasmid deoxyribonucleic acid. An E. carotovora mutant stably carrying plasmid ColVBtrp was isolated. Besides stable plasmid maintenance, the mutant showed altered sensitivity to male-specific phage MS2, sensitivity to drugs, and colony morphology.
Isolation and development of chlorosomes in the green bacterium Chloroflexus aurantiacus
Authors: Sprague S G , Staehelin L A , DiBartolomeis M J , Fuller R C
Published: January 2020

Freeze-fracture electron microscopy was used to study further the changes in chlorosome structure during the development of the photosynthetic apparatus in Chloroflexus aurantiacus J-10-fl. During development, in response to decreased light intensity or lower oxygen tension, the number of chlorosomes per cell increased. The same conditions also led to a general thickening of chlorosomes but did not affect their length or width. The thickening of the chlorosomes paralleled increases in the bacteriochlorophyll c/bacteriochlorophyll a ratio. Semiaerobic induction of the photosynthetic apparatus did not produce a synchronous assembly of chlorosomes in all cells of a given culture. Even adjacent cells of a single filament showed great variations in the rate and extent of response. Parallel appearance of (i) approximately 5-nm particles (in a lattice configuration) in the membrane attachment site, (ii) the crystalline baseplate material (with a periodicity of approximately 6 nm) adjacent to the membrane attachment site, and (iii) the chlorosome envelope layer preceded addition of longitudinally oriented, rodlike elements (diameter, congruent to 6 m) to the chlorosome core. It is estimated that each chlorosome can funnel energy into approximately 100 reaction centers. Chlorosomes could be isolated by a simple density gradient procedure only from cells grown at low light intensity. A bacteriochlorophyll a species absorbing at 790 nm was associated with isolated chlorosomes. Lithium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of chlorosomes showed only a few low-molecular-weight polypeptides (less than 15,000).
A novel phenolic glycolipid from Mycobacterium leprae possibly involved in immunogenicity and pathogenicity
Authors: Hunter S W , Brennan P J
Published: January 2020

A phenolic glycolipid was obtained in high amounts (2% of dry weight) from Mycobacterium leprae isolated from infected armadillo liver. Infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy showed that it is closely related to "mycoside A" from Mycobacterium kansasii and is therefore a glycosylphenolic phthiocerol diester. The crucial difference between the two products is in the composition of the attached trisaccharide. Gas-liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy showed that the product from M. kansasii is composed of 2,4-di-O-methylrhamnose, 2-O-methylrhamnose, and 2-O-methylfucose, whereas that from M. leprae contains 2,3-di-O-methylrhamnose, 3-O-methylrhamnose, and 3,6-di-O-methylglucose. The distinct composition of the oligosaccharide segment of the glycolipid from M. leprae may make it useful for the chemical and serological differentiation of this organism from other mycobacteria. Surprisingly large quantities (2.2 mg/g of dry liver) of the glycolipid were also found in infected liver residue freed of M. leprae, suggesting that it may be responsible for the electron-transparent "foam" surrounding the organism in infected lepromatous tissue.
Use of gene fusions to study expression of cysB, the regulatory gene of the cysteine regulon
Authors: Jagura-Burdzy G , Hulanicka D
Published: January 2020

Strains of escherichia coli were constructed in which the lacZ gene is fused to cysB, the positive regulator gene of the cysteine regulon. The fusion strains were used to study the regulation of the cysB gene by assaying the fused lacZ gene product. The introduction of a cysB allele, either on a plasmid or on an episome to the fusion strains, resulted in the decrease of beta-galactosidase activity. This implies that the cysB gene expression is autoregulated by its own product. The direction of cysB gene transcription was determined to be clockwise.
Genetic characterization of aggregation-defective developmental mutants of Myxococcus xanthus
Authors: Torti S , Zusman D R
Published: January 2020

The transposon Tn5 was used to map temperature-sensitive mutants of Myxococcus xanthus defective in aggregation (C. E. Morrison and D. R. Zusman, J. Bacteriol. 140:1036-1042, 1979). Seven of the eight mutants showing a similar terminal phenotype (rough) were found to be tightly linked. These mapped in a group of loci which we have designated aggR1, aggR2, aggR3, and aggR4. Temperature-sensitive mutants having a different terminal phenotype were not liked to aggR. A search through a group of nonconditional rough mutants indicated that a much lower proportion of these (1 of 35) mapped in aggR. Thus, aggR is probably only one of many sites which can lead to the rough phenotype when mutated. Localized mutagenesis was used to isolate nine additional aggR mutants. All mapped within aggR1, aggR2, or aggR3, and none was found outside this region. Thus, we have characterized a cluster of developmental genes which are needed for aggregation in M. xanthus. The localization of a Tn5 insert adjacent to this region makes possible further manipulation of these genes.
Genetics of the glutamine transport system in Escherichia coli
Authors: Masters P S , Hong J S
Published: January 2020

The active transport of glutamine by Escherichia coli occurs via a single osmotic shock-sensitive transport system which is known to be dependent upon a periplasmic binding protein specific for glutamine. We obtained a mutant that had elevated levels of glutamine transport and overproduced the glutamine binding protein. From this strain many point mutants and deletion-carrying strains defective in glutamine transport were isolated by a variety of techniques. The genetic locus coding for the glutamine transport system, glnP, and the regulatory mutation which causes overproduction of the transport system were both shown to map at 17.7 min on the E. coli chromosome, and it was demonstrated that the glnP locus contains the structural gene for the glutamine binding protein. Evidence was also obtained that the glutamine transport system, by an unknown mechanism, plays a direct role in the catabolism of glutamate and, hence, of glutamine and proline as well.
Interconversion of components of the bacterial proton motive force by electrogenic potassium transport
Authors: Bakker E P , Mangerich W E
Published: January 2020

The influence of K+ ions on the components of the transmembrane proton motive force (delta mu H+) in intact bacteria was investigated. In K+-depleted cells of the glycolytic bacterium STreptococcus faecalis the addition of K+ ions caused a depolarization of the membrane by about 60 mV. However, since the depolarization was compensated for by an increase in the transmembrane pH gradient (delta pH), the total proton motive force remained almost constant at about 120 mV. Half-maximal changes in the potential were observed at K+ concentrations at which the cells accumulated K+ ions extensively. In EDTA-treated, K+-depleted cells of Escherichia coli K-12, the addition of K+ ions to the medium caused similar, although smaller changes in the components of delta mu H+. Experiments with various E. coli K-12 K+ transport mutants showed that for the observed potential changes the cells required either a functional TrkA or Kdp K+ transport system. These data are interpreted to mean that the inward movement of K+ ions via each of these bacterial transport systems is electrogenic. Consequently, it leads to a depolarization of the membrane, which in its turn allows the cell to pump more protons into the medium.
Incorporation of Substrate Cell Lipid A Components into the Lipopolysaccharide of Intraperiplasmically Grown
Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus
Authors: Nelson David R. , Rittenberg Sydney C.
Published: January 2020

The composition of
Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus
lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was determined for cells grown axenically and intraperiplasmically on
Escherichia coli
or
Pseudomonas putida
. The LPS of axenically grown bdellovibrios contained glucose and fucosamine as the only detectable neutral sugar and amino sugar, and nonadecenoic acid (19:1) as the predominant fatty acid. Additional fatty acids, heptose, ketodeoxyoctoic acid, and phosphate were also detected. LPS from bdellovibrios grown intraperiplasmically contained components characteristic of both axenically grown bdellovibrios and the substrate cells. Substrate cell-derived LPS fatty acids made up the majority of the bdellovibrio LPS fatty acids and were present in about the same proportions as in the substrate cell LPS. Glucosamine derived from
E. coli
LPS amounted to about one-third of the hexosamine residues in intraperiplasmically grown bdellovibrio LPS. However, galactose, characteristic of the
E. coli
outer core and O antigen, was not detected in the bdellovibrio LPS, suggesting that only lipid A components of the substrate cell were incorporated. Substrate cell-derived and bdellovibrio-synthesized LPS materials were conserved in the
B. bacteriovorus
outer membrane for at least two cycles of intraperiplasmic growth. When bdellovibrios were grown on two different substrate cells successively, lipid A components were taken up from the second while the components incorporated from the lipid A of the first were conserved in the bdellovibrio LPS. The data show that substrate cell lipid A components were incorporated into
B. bacteriovorus
lipid A during intraperiplasmic growth with little or no change, and that these components, fatty acids and hexosamines, comprised a substantial portion of bdellovibrio lipid A.
Characterization of 2-aminoisobutyric acid transport in Neurospora crassa: a general amino acid permease-specific substrate
Authors: Ogilvie-Villa S , DeBusk R M , DeBusk A G
Published: January 2020

We report the characterization of an amino acid 2-aminoisobutyric acid was transported solely by the general amino acid permease and not by the neutral amino acid permease. Furthermore, this substrate was not metabolized after transport. The potential for a system-specific nonmetabolizable substrate as a tool in the analysis of amino acid transport and its regulation is discussed.
Physical mapping of beta-converting and gamma-nonconverting corynebacteriophage genomes
Authors: Buck G A , Groman N B
Published: January 2020

Deoxyribonucleic acids (DNAs) from wild-type and mutant strains of beta-converting and gamma-nonconverting corynebacteriophages were isolated and physically characterized. The data obtained from DNA heteroduplexes, restriction enzyme banding profiles, and restriction maps reinforce the conclusion that beta and gamma phages are very closely related. The major physical differences seen in the DNA heteroduplexes are a small substitution bubble and one or two insertions which are present on the gamma phage genome. The insertions account for the differences in the genome sizes of beta and gamma phages, and with the substitution they are responsible for most of the differences in the restriction endonuclease profiles and maps of the corynebactriophage genomes, two special sites and the DNA fragments carrying them were identified. These were the cohesive (cos) sites and the specific attachment (attP) site of the vegetative phage genome. The behavior of these sites indicated that the transition of phage DNA from the vegetative to the prophage state involves the circularization of vegetative DNA through the cos sites and its integration into the bacterial chromosome via the attP site. The mechanism of corynebacteriophage integration was similar to that employed by Escherichia coli phage gamma. From the data assembled the physical and genetic maps of beta and gamma phage were oriented with respect to one another. The extensive similarity in their maps provides additional confirmation of a close evolutionary relationship.
Enzymatic sorting of bacterial colonies on filter paper replicas: detection of labile activities
Authors: Bulawa C E , Ganong B R , Sparrow C P , Raetz C R
Published: January 2020

To utilize autoradiographic colony-sorting techniques (C. R. H. Raetz, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 72:2274-2278, 1975) for the isolation of mutants with unstable enzymes, we report a new desiccation-induced lysis method, compatible with low temperatures. Furthermore, a general, two-step protocol is presented for clonal detection of hydrolytic reactions. The advantages of these critical modifications are demonstrated with the membrane enzymes glycerol 3-phosphate acyltransferase and cytidine 5'-diphosphate-diglyceride hydrolase.
New nalidixic acid resistance mutations related to deoxyribonucleic acid gyrase activity
Authors: Yamagishi J , Furutani Y , Inoue S , Ohue T , Nakamura S , Shimizu M
Published: January 2020

In Escherichia coli K-12 mutants which had a new nalidixic acid resistance mutation at about 82 min on the chromosome map, cell growth was resistant to or hypersusceptible to nalidixic acid, oxolinic acid, piromidic acid, pipemidic acid, and novobiocin. Deoxyribonucleic acid gyrase activity as tested by supercoiling of lambda phage deoxyribonucleic acid inside the mutants was similarly resistant or hypersusceptible to the compounds. The drug concentrations required for gyrase inhibition were much higher than those for cell growth inhibition but similar to those for inhibition of lambda phage multiplication. Transduction analysis with lambda phages carrying the chromosomal fragment of the tnaA-gyrB region suggested that one of the mutations, nal-31, was located on the gyrB gene.
Methionine sulfoxide is transported by high-affinity methionine and glutamine transport systems in Salmonella typhimurium
Authors: Ayling P D
Published: January 2020

Three lines of evidence indicated that methionine sulfoxide is transported by the high-affinity methionine and glutamine transport systems in Salmonella typhimurium. First, methionine-requiring strains (metE) which have mutations affecting both of these transport systems (metP glnP) were unable to use methionine sulfoxide as a source of methionine. These strains could still grow on L-methionine because they possessed a low-affinity system (or systems) which transported L-methionine but not the sulfoxide. A methionine auxotroph with a defect only in the metP system, which was dependent upon the glnP+ system for the transport of methionine sulfoxide, was inhibited by L-glutamine because glutamine inhibited the transport of the sulfoxide by the glnP+ system. Second, a metE metP glnP strain could be transduced at either the metP or glnP genes to restore its ability to grow on methionine sulfoxide. Third, the transport of [14C]methionine sulfoxide was inhibited by methionine and by glutamine in the metP+ glnP+ strain. No transport was detected in the metP glnP double-mutant strain.
New mechanism for post-translational processing during assembly of a cytoplasmic membrane protein?
Authors: MacGregor C H , McElhaney G E
Published: January 2020

Insertion of nitrate reductase into the Escherichia coli cytoplasmic membrane was examined by following the fate of pulse-labeled enzyme in both the membrane and cytoplasm during various times after the addition of an unlabeled chase. The polypeptide composition of this labeled enzyme was determined by autoradiography of immunoprecipitated material after separation on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels. The data presented here indicate that immediately after appropriate insertion of the enzyme into the membrane, a post-translational event occurs which converts the cytoplasmically synthesized form of subunit B (B') to the form found in the completely assembled enzyme (B). B' is distinguished from B by its more rapid electrophoretic mobility. B' was found in the cytoplasm of all strains tested, in the membrane of strains with defects in enzyme insertion (hemA and chlE), and as a transient component in the membrane of wild-type cells.
Addition, deletion, and substitution of long nonhomologous deoxyribonucleic acid segments by genetic transformation of Haemophilus influenzae
Authors: Stuy J H , Walter R B
Published: January 2020

A complete EcoRI digest of Haemophilus influenzae phage HP1 deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was mixed with incomplete digests of various H. influenzae R plasmids, sealed with T4 ligase, and transformed into an HP1 lysogen. Most of the chloramphenicol- and tetracycline-resistant transformants did not produce phage although they possessed all the phage genes examined. They also did not transfer antibiotic resistance by conjugation. DNA lysates from them transformed other lysogens to resistance and to loss of phage production at different but quite high frequencies (addition of long DNA segments). They themselves could be transformed efficiently to strains with a wild prophage (deletion of long DNA segments). It was concluded that lysogenic cultures had been constructed with various DNA inserts in their prophages carrying antibiotic resistance genes from the R plasmids. The site of insertion was determined by genetic crosses. DNAs with inserts that transferred with lower efficiency were more sensitive to ultraviolet radiation. This supports the view that insert transfer efficiencies reflect the sizes of the insert.
Control of Actinomycin D Biosynthesis inStreptomyces parvullus: Regulation of Tryptophan Oxygenase Activity
Authors: Foster John W. , Katz Edward
Published: January 2020

Tryptophan oxygenase (tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase) activity increases immediately before the initiation of actinomycin D production byStreptomyces parvullus. We have attempted to discern whether this increase is due to a release from catabolite repression or to the synthesis of an inducer substance. The standard culture medium (glutamic acid-histidine-fructose medium) used in antibiotic production studies withS. parvulluscontainsl-glutamate as a major constituent.l-Glutamate is almost totally consumed before the onset of actinomycin D synthesis. The addition of 10 mMl-glutamate at this stage completely abolished actinomycin D production as well as tryptophan oxygenase synthesis. Fourteen amino acids were tested for a similar effect. Of these,l-glutamate andl-aspartate had the most dramatic effect on tryptophan oxygenase and β-galactosidase (β-d-galactosidase), another inducible enzyme. Standard glutamic acid-histidine-fructose medium, preincubated for 23 h to removel-glutamate, allowed the synthesis of actinomycin D and tryptophan oxygenase by cells at a stage of growth normally considered too early for antibiotic production. A chemically defined medium lackingl-glutamate and adjusted to pH 8.0 was designed to simulate the preincubation medium. The transfer of cells to this artificial preincubation medium resulted in the appearance of tryptophan oxygenase as early as 19 h before normal synthesis occurred, eliminating the possibility that an inducer molecule is synthesized and excreted during the preincubation period. The results of these studies suggest that the increase in tryptophan oxygenase activity before the onset of actinomycin D synthesis, as well as the synthesis of actinomycin D itself, is due to a release froml-glutamate catabolite repression.