Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Journal of Bacteriology logoLink to Journal of Bacteriology
. 1986 Oct;168(1):40–48. doi: 10.1128/jb.168.1.40-48.1986

Organization and expression of genetic determinants for synthesis and assembly of type 51 R bodies.

J A Kanabrocki, R L Quackenbush, F R Pond
PMCID: PMC213417  PMID: 3759909

Abstract

Type 51 R bodies are produced by all bacterial endosymbionts (Caedibacter taeniospiralis) of Paramecium tetraurelia that confer the hump-killer trait upon their hosts. Type 51 R-body synthesis by C. taeniospiralis is required for expression of the hump-killer trait. The genetic determinants for type 51 R-body synthesis by C. taeniospiralis 47 have been cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. In this communication we describe three species of polypeptides required for R-body synthesis and the organization of their genetic determinants. Each polypeptide species is controlled by a separate gene that is expressed as an independent transcriptional unit possessing regulatory signals that are recognized by E. coli. Two polypeptide species of 10 and 18 kilodaltons are required for R-body synthesis but apparently are not structural subunits. The third polypeptide species (13 kilodaltons) is the major structural subunit. R-body assembly involves polymerization reactions that result in high-molecular-mass polypeptide complexes, primarily composed of the 13-kilodalton polypeptide species, that appear to be the result of covalent cross-linking between structural subunits. The results presented here have been suggested to apply to the assembly and structure of all type 51 R bodies, but not necessarily to other R-body types.

Full text

PDF
40

Images in this article

41Image
on p.41
42Image
on p.42
43Image
on p.43
43Image
on p.43
43Image
on p.43
44Image
on p.44
45Image
on p.45

Selected References

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

  1. Birnboim H. C., Doly J. A rapid alkaline extraction procedure for screening recombinant plasmid DNA. Nucleic Acids Res. 1979 Nov 24;7(6):1513–1523. doi: 10.1093/nar/7.6.1513. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Clewell D. B., Helinski D. R. Supercoiled circular DNA-protein complex in Escherichia coli: purification and induced conversion to an opern circular DNA form. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1969 Apr;62(4):1159–1166. doi: 10.1073/pnas.62.4.1159. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Dilts J. A., Quackenbush R. L. A mutation in the R body-coding sequence destroys expression of the killer trait in P. tetraurelia. Science. 1986 May 2;232(4750):641–643. doi: 10.1126/science.3008334. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Eshdat Y., Silverblatt F. J., Sharon N. Dissociation and reassembly of Escherichia coli type 1 pili. J Bacteriol. 1981 Oct;148(1):308–314. doi: 10.1128/jb.148.1.308-314.1981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Laemmli U. K. Cleavage of structural proteins during the assembly of the head of bacteriophage T4. Nature. 1970 Aug 15;227(5259):680–685. doi: 10.1038/227680a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. McMichael J. C., Ou J. T. Structure of common pili from Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1979 Jun;138(3):969–975. doi: 10.1128/jb.138.3.969-975.1979. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Meagher R. B., Tait R. C., Betlach M., Boyer H. W. Protein expression in E. coli minicells by recombinant plasmids. Cell. 1977 Mar;10(3):521–536. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(77)90039-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Mooi F. R., Wijfjes A., de Graaf F. K. Identification and characterization of precursors in the biosynthesis of the K88ab fimbria of Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1983 Apr;154(1):41–49. doi: 10.1128/jb.154.1.41-49.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. O'Farrell P. H. High resolution two-dimensional electrophoresis of proteins. J Biol Chem. 1975 May 25;250(10):4007–4021. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Orndorff P. E., Falkow S. Organization and expression of genes responsible for type 1 piliation in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1984 Aug;159(2):736–744. doi: 10.1128/jb.159.2.736-744.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Pratt C. Kinetics and regulation of cell-free alkaline phosphatase synthesis. J Bacteriol. 1980 Sep;143(3):1265–1274. doi: 10.1128/jb.143.3.1265-1274.1980. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Preer J. R., Jr, Preer L. B., Jurand A. Kappa and other endosymbionts in Paramecium aurelia. Bacteriol Rev. 1974 Jun;38(2):113–163. doi: 10.1128/br.38.2.113-163.1974. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Preer J. R., Jr, Preer L. B. Virus-like bodies in killer paramecia. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1967 Oct;58(4):1774–1781. doi: 10.1073/pnas.58.4.1774. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Quackenbush R. L., Burbach J. A. Cloning and expression of DNA sequences associated with the killer trait of Paramecium tetraurelia stock 47. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1983 Jan;80(1):250–254. doi: 10.1073/pnas.80.1.250. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Quackenbush R. L., Dilts J. A., Cox B. J. Transposonlike elements in Caedibacter taeniospiralis. J Bacteriol. 1986 Apr;166(1):349–352. doi: 10.1128/jb.166.1.349-352.1986. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Quackenbush R. L. Plasmids from bacterial endosymbionts of hump-killer paramecia. Plasmid. 1983 May;9(3):298–306. doi: 10.1016/0147-619x(83)90007-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Roozen K. J., Fenwick R. G., Jr, Curtiss R., 3rd Synthesis of ribonucleic acid and protein in plasmid-containing minicells of Escherichia coli K-12. J Bacteriol. 1971 Jul;107(1):21–33. doi: 10.1128/jb.107.1.21-33.1971. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Soberon X., Covarrubias L., Bolivar F. Construction and characterization of new cloning vehicles. IV. Deletion derivatives of pBR322 and pBR325. Gene. 1980 May;9(3-4):287–305. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(90)90328-o. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Talmadge K., Gilberg W. Construction of plasmid vectors with unique PstI cloning sites in a signal sequence coding region. Gene. 1980 Dec;12(3-4):235–241. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(80)90105-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. WIDMAYER D. J. A NONKILLER RESISTANT KAPPA AND ITS BEARING ON THE INTERPRETATION OF KAPPA IN PARAMECIUM AURELIA. Genetics. 1965 Apr;51:613–623. doi: 10.1093/genetics/51.4.613. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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

RESOURCES