Three-dimensional crystal structures of Escherichia coli met repressor with and without corepressor

The three-dimensional crystal structure of met repressor, in the presence or absence of bound corepressor (S-adenosylmethionine), shows a dimer of intertwined monomers, which do not have the helix-turn-helix motif characteristic of other bacterial repressor and activator structures. We propose that the interaction of met repressor with DNA occurs through either a pair of symmetry-related alpha-helices or a pair of beta-strands, and suggest a model for binding of several dimers to met operator regions.     

Amino-terminal fragments of Escherichia coli lac repressor bind to DNA.

The N-terminal fragments (residues 1-51 and 1-59) obtained by selective tryptic cleavage of native lac repressor retain the ability to bind DNA. These fragments (headpieces) are monomeric and form complexes which resemble those of tetrameric repressor with non-operator DNA. But, they do not show the high specificity of repressor for operator sequences. The DNA binding has been demonstrated by filter-binding assay as well as in solution using absorption, circular dichroism, and fluorescence measurements.     

Escherichia coli single-strand binding protein stabilizes specific denatured sites in superhelical DNA

Escherichia coli single-strand binding protein relaxes supercoiled DNA molecules containing the Drosophila melanogaster histone gene repeat unit, by stabilizing denaturation bubbles that map near the boundaries of the genes, at sites that in native chromatin have been shown to be hypersensitive to nucleases. A similar process may contribute to the propagation of such hypersensitive sites after their induction on the activation of gene expression.     

Fibronectin binding mediated by a novel class of surface organelles on Escherichia coli

Gram-negative bacteria are known to produce two types of surface organelles: flagella, which are required for motility and chemotaxis, and pili (fimbriae), which play a part in the interaction of bacteria with other bacteria and with eukaryotic host cells. Here we report a third class of E. coli surface organelles for which we propose the name curli. Curli are coiled surface structures composed of a single type of subunit, the curlin, which differs from all known pilin proteins and is synthesized in the absence of a cleavable signal peptide. Although the gene encoding this structural subunit, crl, is present and transcribed in most natural isolates of E. coli, only certain strains are able to assemble the subunit protein into curli. This assembly process occurs preferentially at growth temperatures below 37 degrees C. The ability of curli to mediate binding to fibronectin may be a virulence-associated property for wound colonization and for the colonization of fibronectin-coated surfaces.     

DNA loops induced by cooperative binding of lambda repressor

It has been shown by Hochschild and Ptashne that lambda repressors bind cooperatively to operator sites separated by five or six turns of the helix. Cooperative binding is not observed if the sites are separated by a nonintegral number of turns, unless a four-nucleotide gap is introduced into one of the strands between the two sites. These and other facts suggested that repressors at the separated sites touch each other, the DNA bending smoothly so as to accommodate the protein-protein interaction. Here we use electron microscopy to visualize the predicted protein-DNA complexes.     

大肠杆菌基因组的组构

以１９９３年４月为止的ＤＮＡ序列资料为依据，讨论了一年来大肠杆菌基因的研究进展，并以日本和美国科学家分别完成的两大片段的序列资料为中心，评述了大肠杆菌基因组的组成特点及其生物学意义．     

Antibodies from Escherichia coli

Use of Escherichia coli as an expression host has opened up new possibilities in antibody research and its applications. It greatly facilitates rational engineering and random mutagenesis.     

大肠杆菌NADP特异性谷氨酸脱氢酶基因的克隆及其在大肠杆菌中的高效表达与纯化

谷氨酸脱氢酶是生物体内最主要的氧化脱氨基酶类，为了进一步研究其功能，我们以大肠杆菌DH5α菌株基因组DNA为模板和相应的寡聚脱氧核苷酸为引物，进行PCR扩增大肠杆菌NADP特异性谷氨酸脱氢酶基因(NADP-specific glutamate dehydrogenase，gdhA gene)，将所得DNA片断连接到质粒pUC18上，转化大肠杆菌DH5α，进行蓝白筛选和酶切鉴定，经测序证明序列正确无误后将gdhA基因连接到表达载体pTrcHisC上，在大肠杆菌BL21(DE3)中表达，经SDS-PAGE和双波长扫描分析，确定大肠杆菌谷氨酸脱氢酶在大肠杆菌中表达时以包涵体的形式存在，未能检测到可溶性蛋白的表达，表达量可达菌体总蛋白的15％以上．     

Changing the binding specificity of a repressor by redesigning an alpha-helix

We replaced amino acids on the 'outside', or solvent-exposed, surface of the DNA recognition alpha-helix of 434 repressor with the corresponding amino acids from the recognition helix of P22 repressor. The binding specificity of the resulting hybrid protein, as measured in vivo and in vitro, was that of P22 repressor.     

菠菜43 kD叶绿素a结合蛋白编码基因克隆及原核表达条件优化

将菠菜43 kD叶绿素结合蛋白编码基因亚克隆至原核表达载体pET-28a上,构建重组表达质粒pET-28a-psbC转化感受态E.coli BL21(DE3),经IPTG诱导实现了外源基因的可溶性表达.探讨了含组氨酸标签融合蛋白的最佳表达条件(包括表达单克隆、时间、温度对表达的影响).利用Ni2+-Sepharose 4 Fast Flow亲合层析纯化出His-apo CP43蛋白.体外重组实验证实 His-apo CP43能特异结合叶绿素a,经过温和电泳分离纯化所得体外重组色素蛋白复合物具有与提取自类囊体膜的天然CP43相似(但不完全相同)的荧光特性.     

大肠杆菌卷曲菌毛及其致病性

大肠杆菌卷曲菌毛是其菌体表面的一种含纤维素样蛋白质附着器官,出现在大肠杆菌生理和病理过程中,可以通过黏附等作用介导大肠杆菌侵袭宿主.作为一种细菌淀粉样蛋白,卷曲菌毛有可能引起淀粉样蛋白相关疾病;卷曲菌毛可以诱导宿主炎症因子水平升高,引起脓毒血症;卷曲菌毛可以和纤维素等一起构成菌外基质,参与生物膜的形成.基于此,综述了大...     

E. coli recA protein-directed cleavage of phage lambda repressor requires polynucleotide

The recA protein mediates both genetic recombination and several cellular responses to DNA damage, including the induction of temperate bacteriophage. Indication of phage lambda results from proteolytic cleavage of lambda repressor directed by recA protein. We show here that this cleavage reaction requires both polynucleotide and ATP. We suggest that a stoichiometric complex of recA protein and DNA is active both to destroy repressors by proteolytic cleavage and to initiate pairing of this DNA to its homologous sequence in a DNA duplex ('strand invasion').