Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1988 Jun;85(12):4402–4405. doi: 10.1073/pnas.85.12.4402

Specific insertion and deletion of insertion sequence 1-like DNA element causes the reversible expression of the virulence capsular antigen Vi of Citrobacter freundii in Escherichia coli.

J T Ou 1, L S Baron 1, F A Rubin 1, D J Kopecko 1
PMCID: PMC280437  PMID: 2837765

Abstract

Citrobacter freundii strain WR7004 reversibly expresses the virulence capsular antigen Vi, whose production is controlled by two distinct chromosomal loci, viaA and viaB. The rate of oscillation between the Vi-producing (Vi+) state and the Vi-nonproducing (Vi-) state in strain WR7004 ranges from 2 X 10(-4) to 7 X 10(-3) transitions per bacterium per generation. A similarly high conversion rate from Vi+ to Vi- occurs in Escherichia coli HB101 harboring pWR127, a plasmid that contains the 18-kilobase-pair (kb) viaB region cloned from WR7004. However, the Vi- state in HB101 harboring pWR127 was so stable that transition to the Vi+ state was not detected (less than 10(-10) per bacterium per generation). When pWR127 DNA derived from Vi- strains of HB101 harboring pWR127 was transformed in HB101 recipient, a small number of Vi+ transformants were seen among the transformants, which were predominantly Vi-. The viaB region consists of two EcoRI digestion fragments, A (8.6 kb) and B (9.4 kb). A discrete 700- to 800-base-pair DNA element was found to be inserted in the EcoRI B fragment of the viaB region of pWR127 when derived from Vi- strains. However, no such DNA element was found in the pWR127 DNA isolated from Vi+ strains. This discrete DNA element inserts into a recombinational hot spot 1.1 kb from the end of the EcoRI B fragment and behaves as an insertion sequence 1 (IS1)-like element. The insertion of this IS1-like element in the viaB region thus disrupts expression of the Vi antigen. Restoration of Vi expression results when this element is excised.

Full text

PDF
4402

Images in this article

4404Image
on p.4404
4404Image
on p.4404
4405Image
on p.4405
4405Image
on p.4405

Selected References

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

  1. Abraham J. M., Freitag C. S., Clements J. R., Eisenstein B. I. An invertible element of DNA controls phase variation of type 1 fimbriae of Escherichia coli. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 Sep;82(17):5724–5727. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.17.5724. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Baron L. S., Kopecko D. J., McCowen S. M., Snellings N. J., Johnson E. M., Reid W. C., Life C. A. Genetic and molecular studies of the regulation of atypical citrate utilization and variable Vi antigen expression in enteric bacteria. Basic Life Sci. 1982;19:175–194. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4684-4142-0_16. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Fiandt M., Szybalski W., Malamy M. H. Polar mutations in lac, gal and phage lambda consist of a few IS-DNA sequences inserted with either orientation. Mol Gen Genet. 1972;119(3):223–231. doi: 10.1007/BF00333860. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Hirsch H. J., Starlinger P., Brachet P. Two kinds of insertions in bacterial genes. Mol Gen Genet. 1972;119(3):191–206. doi: 10.1007/BF00333858. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. JOHNSON E. M., KRAUSKOPF B., BARON L. S. GENETIC MAPPING OF VI AND SOMATIC ANTIGENIC DETERMINANTS IN SALMONELLA. J Bacteriol. 1965 Aug;90:302–308. doi: 10.1128/jb.90.2.302-308.1965. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Johnson E. M., Baron L. S. Genetic transfer of the Vi antigen from Salmonella typhosa to Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1969 Jul;99(1):358–359. doi: 10.1128/jb.99.1.358-359.1969. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Johnson R. C., Simon M. I. Hin-mediated site-specific recombination requires two 26 bp recombination sites and a 60 bp recombinational enhancer. Cell. 1985 Jul;41(3):781–791. doi: 10.1016/s0092-8674(85)80059-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. LANDY M. The visual identification of V and W form colonies in Salmonella cultures. Public Health Rep. 1950 Jul 28;65(30):950–951. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Ohtsubo H., Ohtsubo E. Nucleotide sequence of an insertion element, IS1. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1978 Feb;75(2):615–619. doi: 10.1073/pnas.75.2.615. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Peterson B. C., Hashimoto H., Rownd R. H. Cointegrate formation between homologous plasmids in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1982 Sep;151(3):1086–1094. doi: 10.1128/jb.151.3.1086-1094.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Reynolds A. E., Felton J., Wright A. Insertion of DNA activates the cryptic bgl operon in E. coli K12. Nature. 1981 Oct 22;293(5834):625–629. doi: 10.1038/293625a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Rigby P. W., Dieckmann M., Rhodes C., Berg P. Labeling deoxyribonucleic acid to high specific activity in vitro by nick translation with DNA polymerase I. J Mol Biol. 1977 Jun 15;113(1):237–251. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(77)90052-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Rubin F. A., Kopecko D. J., Noon K. F., Baron L. S. Development of a DNA probe to detect Salmonella typhi. J Clin Microbiol. 1985 Oct;22(4):600–605. doi: 10.1128/jcm.22.4.600-605.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. SIMON E. H. DNA synthesis in the development of resistance to ultraviolet irradiation in T2-infected E. coli. Virology. 1961 Nov;15:237–244. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(61)90354-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Saedler H., Starlinger P. 0 degree mutations in the galactose operon in E. coli. I. Genetic characterization. Mol Gen Genet. 1967;100(2):178–189. doi: 10.1007/BF00333604. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Silverman M., Zieg J., Hilmen M., Simon M. Phase variation in Salmonella: genetic analysis of a recombinational switch. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1979 Jan;76(1):391–395. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.1.391. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Silverman M., Zieg J., Simon M. Flagellar-phase variation: isolation of the rh1 gene. J Bacteriol. 1979 Jan;137(1):517–523. doi: 10.1128/jb.137.1.517-523.1979. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Snellings N. J., Johnson E. M., Kopecko D. J., Collins H. H., Baron L. S. Genetic regulation of variable Vi antigen expression in a strain of Citrobacter freundii. J Bacteriol. 1981 Feb;145(2):1010–1017. doi: 10.1128/jb.145.2.1010-1017.1981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Southern E. M. Detection of specific sequences among DNA fragments separated by gel electrophoresis. J Mol Biol. 1975 Nov 5;98(3):503–517. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(75)80083-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America are provided here courtesy of National Academy of Sciences

RESOURCES