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. 1988 Aug;170(8):3333–3341. doi: 10.1128/jb.170.8.3333-3341.1988

A lacZ-pbpB gene fusion coding for an inducible hybrid protein that recognizes localized sites in the inner membrane of Escherichia coli.

J A Ayala 1, J Plá 1, L R Desviat 1, M A de Pedro 1
PMCID: PMC211299  PMID: 3136138

Abstract

An in-phase gene fusion consisting of the 5'-terminal 1,314 base pairs (bp) of the structural gene for beta-galactosidase (lacZ) and the 3'-terminal 1,644 bp of the structural gene coding for penicillin-binding protein 3 (pbpB) of Escherichia coli was constructed and cloned in the plasmid pDIAM64. The product of the fusion gene was a remarkably stable protein with an apparent molecular weight of 110,000 (p110) that retained the ability to covalently interact with beta-lactam antibiotics. The fusion protein was found associated with the membrane at low levels of induction, but it accumulated in the cytoplasm of cells induced for a long time as inclusion bodies of high density. Inclusion bodies were localized at defined positions corresponding to septal sites in all of the pDIAM64-containing strains tested except PAT84 and GD113 (which carry the ftsZ84 mutant allele). These findings indicate a possible role of the FtsZ protein in the integration of Pbp3 into the membrane and in septum localization during the cell division cycle.

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