Preferential DNA secondary structure mutagenesis in the lagging strand of replication in E. coli

When present in single-stranded DNA, palindromic or quasi-palindromic sequences have the potential to form complex secondary structures, including hairpins, which may facilitate interstrand misalignment of direct repeats and be responsible for diverse types of replication-based mutations, including deletions, additions, frameshifts and duplications. In regions of palindromic symmetry, specific deletion events may involve the formation of a hairpin or other DNA secondary structures which can stabilize the misalignment of direct repeats. One model suggests that these deletions occur during DNA replication by slippage of the template strand and misalignment with the progeny strand. The concurrent DNA replication model, involving an asymmetric dimeric DNA polymerase III complex which replicates the leading and lagging strands, has significant implications for mutagenesis. The intermittent looping of the lagging strand template, and the fact that the lagging strand template may contain a region of single-stranded DNA the length of an Okazaki fragment, provides an opportunity for DNA secondary-structure formation and misalignment. Here we report our design of a palindromic fragment to create an 'asymmetric palindromic insert' in the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene of plasmid pBR325. The frequency with which the insert was deleted in Escherichia coli depends on the orientation of the gene in the plasmid. Our results suggest that replication-dependent deletion between direct repeats may occur preferentially in the lagging strand.     

从大肠杆菌中获得高浓度质粒DNA的方法

通过改进菌体的培养以及质粒小提方法,可以简便快捷地得到浓度很高的质粒DNA,经琼脂糖凝胶电泳、紫外分光光度法、酶切、PCR的验证,所提质粒可以应用于分子生物学的研究,特别是可以满足瞬时基因枪转化的要求。     

An inducible DNA replication-cell division coupling mechanism in E. coli

Cell division is a tightly regulated periodic process. In steady-state cultures of Enterobacteriaceae, division takes place at a well defined cell mass and is strictly coordinated with DNA replication. In wild-type Escherichia coli the formation of cells lacking DNA is very rare, and interruptions of DNA replication arrest cell division. The molecular bases of this replication-division coupling have been elusive but several models have been proposed. It has been suggested, for example, that the termination of a round of DNA replication may trigger a key event required for cell division. A quite different model postulates the existence of a division inhibitor which prevents untimely division and whose synthesis is induced to high levels when DNA replication is perturbed. The work reported here establishes the existence of the latter type of replication-division coupling in E. coli, and shows that the sfiA gene product is an inducible component of this division inhibition mechanism which is synthesized at high levels after perturbations of DNA replication.     

Phenotypic expression in E. coli of a DNA sequence coding for mouse dihydrofolate reductase.

The construction and analysis of bacterial plasmids that contain and phenotypically express a mammalian genetic sequence are described. Such plasmids specify a protein that has enzymatic properties, immunological reactivity and molecular size characteristic of the mouse dihydrofolate reductase, and render host cells resistant to the antimetabolic drug trimethoprim.     

Domain of E. coli DNA polymerase I showing sequence homology to T7 DNA polymerase

Escherichia coli contains three DNA polymerases that differ in their size, ability to interact with accessory proteins and biological function. Monomeric DNA polymerase I (Pol I) has a relative molecular mass (Mr) of 103,000 (103K) and is involved primarily in the repair of damaged DNA and the processing of Okazaki fragments; polymerase II is of Mr 120K, and polymerase III has a Mr of 140K, is responsible for the replication of the DNA chromosome and is just one of several proteins that are required for replication. DNA polymerases from bacteriophage as well as those of eukaryotic viral and cellular origin also differ with respect to their size and the number of associated proteins that are required for them to function in replication. However, the template-directed copying of DNA is identical in all cases. The crystal structure of the large proteolytic fragment of Pol I shows that it consists of two domains, the larger of which contains a deep crevice whose dimensions are such that it can bind duplex DNA. The T7 polymerase consists of two subunits, the 80K gene 5 protein and the host-encoded 12K thioredoxin of E. coli. We show here that there is an amino acid sequence homology between at least eight polypeptide segments that form the large cleft in the Klenow fragment and polypeptides in T7 DNA polymerase gene 5 protein, suggesting that this domain evolved from a common precursor. The parts of the Pol I and T7 DNA polymerase molecules that bind the DNA substrate appear to share common structural features, and these features may be shared by all of these varied DNA polymerases.     

AID mutates E. coli suggesting a DNA deamination mechanism for antibody diversification

After gene rearrangement, immunoglobulin variable genes are diversified by somatic hypermutation or gene conversion, whereas the constant region is altered by class-switch recombination. All three processes depend on activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID), a B-cell-specific protein that has been proposed (because of sequence homology) to function by RNA editing. But indications that the three gene diversification processes might be initiated by a common type of DNA lesion, together with the proposal that there is a first phase of hypermutation that targets dC/dG, suggested to us that AID may function directly at dC/dG pairs. Here we show that expression of AID in Escherichia coli gives a mutator phenotype that yields nucleotide transitions at dC/dG in a context-dependent manner. Mutation triggered by AID is enhanced by a deficiency of uracil-DNA glycosylase, which indicates that AID functions by deaminating dC residues in DNA. We propose that diversification of functional immunoglobulin genes is triggered by AID-mediated deamination of dC residues in the immunoglobulin locus with the outcome--that is, hypermutation phases 1 and 2, gene conversion or switch recombination--dependent on the way in which the initiating dU/dG lesion is resolved.     

大肠杆菌二硫键异构酶DsbA和脯氨酸异构酶PPIaseA双顺反子表达载体的构建及其在大肠杆菌中的表达

用ＰＣＲ方法获得大肠杆菌二硫键异构酶ＤｓｂＡ的编码基因ｄｓｂＡ和大肠杆菌脯氨酸异构酶ＰＰＩａｓｅＡ的编码基因ｒｏｔ,并将ＤｓｂＡ和ｒｏｔ以双顺反子形式克隆至含有Ｐｔａｃ启动子的表达载体ｐＫＫ２３３－２中。在ＩＰＴＧ的诱导下,ＤｓｂＡ和ＰＰＩａｓｅＡ获得了表达。ＳＤＳ－ＰＡＧＥ和薄层扫描分析表明：ＤｓｂＡ、ＰＰＩａｓｅＡ的表达水平分别为占菌体裂解上清液总蛋白质的４．３２％和４．０６％。     

在耐药性研究中的大肠杆菌

随着抗生素应用于临床和生产,许多疾病得到了较好的控制,同时也出现了细菌的耐药问题.大肠杆菌能够通过畜禽产品的加工及储藏等传播给人类,许多耐药菌株引起的疾病治疗非常困难.本文就大肠杆菌耐药性的研究现状、耐药原因、耐药机制、以及耐药性的消除做一扼要概述.