Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Bacteriology logoLink to Journal of Bacteriology
. 1997 Jul;179(14):4620–4622. doi: 10.1128/jb.179.14.4620-4622.1997

H-NS and RpoS regulate emergence of Lac Ara+ mutants of Escherichia coli MCS2.

J M Gómez-Gómez 1, J Blázquez 1, F Baquero 1, J L Martínez 1
PMCID: PMC179300  PMID: 9226274

Abstract

Two master growth-phase regulatory proteins, H-NS and sigmaS, are involved in the formation of araB-lacZ fusion clones of Escherichia coli MCS2. The stationary-phase sigma factor RpoS is strictly required for the appearance of such mutants, whereas the histone-like protein H-NS represses their emergence. Our results support the idea that genetic changes leading to adaptive mutation in this model system are regulated by physiological signal transduction networks.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (126.6 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Aviv M., Giladi H., Schreiber G., Oppenheim A. B., Glaser G. Expression of the genes coding for the Escherichia coli integration host factor are controlled by growth phase, rpoS, ppGpp and by autoregulation. Mol Microbiol. 1994 Dec;14(5):1021–1031. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1994.tb01336.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Barth M., Marschall C., Muffler A., Fischer D., Hengge-Aronis R. Role for the histone-like protein H-NS in growth phase-dependent and osmotic regulation of sigma S and many sigma S-dependent genes in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1995 Jun;177(12):3455–3464. doi: 10.1128/jb.177.12.3455-3464.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Cairns J., Overbaugh J., Miller S. The origin of mutants. Nature. 1988 Sep 8;335(6186):142–145. doi: 10.1038/335142a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Casadaban M. J. Transposition and fusion of the lac genes to selected promoters in Escherichia coli using bacteriophage lambda and Mu. J Mol Biol. 1976 Jul 5;104(3):541–555. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(76)90119-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Falconi M., McGovern V., Gualerzi C., Hillyard D., Higgins N. P. Mutations altering chromosomal protein H-NS induce mini-Mu transposition. New Biol. 1991 Jun;3(6):615–625. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Foster P. L., Cairns J. The occurrence of heritable Mu excisions in starving cells of Escherichia coli. EMBO J. 1994 Nov 1;13(21):5240–5244. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1994.tb06855.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Galitski T., Roth J. R. Evidence that F plasmid transfer replication underlies apparent adaptive mutation. Science. 1995 Apr 21;268(5209):421–423. doi: 10.1126/science.7716546. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Gomez-Gomez J. M., Blazquez J., Baquero F., Martinez J. L. Hns mutant unveils the presence of a latent haemolytic activity in Escherichia coli K-12. Mol Microbiol. 1996 Feb;19(4):909–910. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2958.1996.443955.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Hall B. G. Spontaneous point mutations that occur more often when advantageous than when neutral. Genetics. 1990 Sep;126(1):5–16. doi: 10.1093/genetics/126.1.5. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Hengge-Aronis R. Survival of hunger and stress: the role of rpoS in early stationary phase gene regulation in E. coli. Cell. 1993 Jan 29;72(2):165–168. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(93)90655-a. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. LEDERBERG J., LEDERBERG E. M. Replica plating and indirect selection of bacterial mutants. J Bacteriol. 1952 Mar;63(3):399–406. doi: 10.1128/jb.63.3.399-406.1952. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Lange R., Hengge-Aronis R. Identification of a central regulator of stationary-phase gene expression in Escherichia coli. Mol Microbiol. 1991 Jan;5(1):49–59. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1991.tb01825.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Luria S. E., Delbrück M. Mutations of Bacteria from Virus Sensitivity to Virus Resistance. Genetics. 1943 Nov;28(6):491–511. doi: 10.1093/genetics/28.6.491. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Maenhaut-Michel G., Shapiro J. A. The roles of starvation and selective substrates in the emergence of araB-lacZ fusion clones. EMBO J. 1994 Nov 1;13(21):5229–5239. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1994.tb06854.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Mittler J. E., Lenski R. E. New data on excisions of Mu from E. coli MCS2 cast doubt on directed mutation hypothesis. Nature. 1990 Mar 8;344(6262):173–175. doi: 10.1038/344173a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Radicella J. P., Park P. U., Fox M. S. Adaptive mutation in Escherichia coli: a role for conjugation. Science. 1995 Apr 21;268(5209):418–420. doi: 10.1126/science.7716545. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Rosenberg S. M., Harris R. S., Torkelson J. Molecular handles on adaptive mutation. Mol Microbiol. 1995 Oct;18(2):185–189. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1995.mmi_18020185.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Shapiro J. A. Adaptive mutation: who's really in the garden? Science. 1995 Apr 21;268(5209):373–374. doi: 10.1126/science.7716540. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Shapiro J. A., Leach D. Action of a transposable element in coding sequence fusions. Genetics. 1990 Oct;126(2):293–299. doi: 10.1093/genetics/126.2.293. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Shapiro J. A. Natural genetic engineering of the bacterial genome. Curr Opin Genet Dev. 1993 Dec;3(6):845–848. doi: 10.1016/0959-437x(93)90003-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Shapiro J. A. Observations on the formation of clones containing araB-lacZ cistron fusions. Mol Gen Genet. 1984;194(1-2):79–90. doi: 10.1007/BF00383501. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Sniegowski P. D. A test of the directed mutation hypothesis in Escherichia coli MCS2 using replica plating. J Bacteriol. 1995 Feb;177(4):1119–1120. doi: 10.1128/jb.177.4.1119-1120.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Stahl F. W. Bacterial genetics. A unicorn in the garden. Nature. 1988 Sep 8;335(6186):112–113. doi: 10.1038/335112a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Ussery D. W., Hinton J. C., Jordi B. J., Granum P. E., Seirafi A., Stephen R. J., Tupper A. E., Berridge G., Sidebotham J. M., Higgins C. F. The chromatin-associated protein H-NS. Biochimie. 1994;76(10-11):968–980. doi: 10.1016/0300-9084(94)90022-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Bacteriology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES