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. 1971 Jul;107(1):79–86. doi: 10.1128/jb.107.1.79-86.1971

d-Fucose as a Gratuitous Inducer of the l-Arabinose Operon in Strains of Escherichia coli B/r Mutant in Gene araC1

Susan Beverin a, David E Sheppard a, Sang Shin Park a
PMCID: PMC246888  PMID: 4935332

Abstract

d-Fucose, a nonmetabolizable analogue of l-arabinose, prevents growth of Escherichia coli B/r on a mineral salts medium plus l-arabinose by inhibiting induction of the l-arabinose operon. Mutations giving rise to d-fucose resistance map in gene araC and result in constitutive expression of the l-arabinose operon. Most of these mutations also permit d-fucose to serve as a gratuitous inducer. It is concluded that d-fucose-resistant mutants produce an araC gene product with an altered inducer specificity. Addition of l-arabinose to cells induced with the gratuitous inducer, d-fucose, resulted in severe transient repression of operon expression followed by permanent catabolite repression. Transient repression but no permanent catabolite repression was obtained when cells unable to metabolize l-arabinose were employed. It is concluded that transport of l-arabinose alone is sufficient to achieve transient repression of its own operon, but that metabolism of l-arabinose must occur to achieve permanent catabolite repression of the l-arabinose operon. This general effect has been termed “self-catabolite repression.”

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Selected References

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

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