Abstract
Thymineless death was examined in Escherichia coli 15T− and recombinants of 15T− and E. coli K-12. Those strains that were very sensitive to thymine deprivation were also very sensitive to a variety of inducing agents (mitomycin C, ultraviolet light, hydroxyurea, and nalidixic acid). Those strains that were relatively resistant to thymineless death were also relatively resistant to the inducing agents. After exposure to thymineless death and the inducing agents, sensitive strains lysed, produced colicin, and had phage particles in their lysates. These strains also showed an increase in the 6-methyladenine content of their deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and an increase in the DNA methylase activity of their crude extracts under these conditions. None of these effects was noted in the strains relatively resistant to thymineless death and the inducing agents. These data indicate that there are two types of thymineless death. One is represented by the strains that are very sensitive to thymine deprivation and other inducing agents and is secondary to the induction of phage ψ. The strains more resistant to thymine deprivation and the other inducing agents undergo a non-phage-mediated thymineless death. The mechanism of this latter process is currently under study.
Full text
PDF
Images in this article
Selected References
These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.
- BARNER H. D., COHEN S. S. The induction of thymine synthesis by T2 infection of a thymine requiring mutant of Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1954 Jul;68(1):80–88. doi: 10.1128/jb.68.1.80-88.1954. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- DUNN D. B., SMITH J. D. The occurrence of 6-methylaminopurine in deoxyribonucleic acids. Biochem J. 1958 Apr;68(4):627–636. doi: 10.1042/bj0680627. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- ENDO H., AYABE K., AMAKO K., TAKEYA K. INDUCIBLE PHAGE OF ESCHERICHIA COLI 15. Virology. 1965 Mar;25:469–471. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(65)90067-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Freifelder D. Single-strand breaks in bacterial DNA associated with thymine starvation. J Mol Biol. 1969 Oct 14;45(1):1–7. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(69)90205-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Fujimoto D., Srinivasan P. R., Borek E. On the nature of the deoxyribonucleic acid methylases. Biological evidence for the multiple nature of the enzymes. Biochemistry. 1965 Dec;4(12):2849–2855. doi: 10.1021/bi00888a041. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Ishibashi M., Hirota Y. Hybridization between Escherichia coli K-12 and 15T- and thymineless death of their derivatives. J Bacteriol. 1965 Nov;90(5):1496–1497. doi: 10.1128/jb.90.5.1496-1497.1965. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- MUKAI F. H. Interrelationship between colicin sensitivity and phage resistance. J Gen Microbiol. 1960 Dec;23:539–551. doi: 10.1099/00221287-23-3-539. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Medoff G., Swartz M. N. Induction of a defective phage and DNA methylation in Escherichia coli 15T-. J Gen Virol. 1969 Jan;4(1):15–27. doi: 10.1099/0022-1317-4-1-15. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- Mennigmann H. D. Electron microscopy of the anti-bacterial agent produced by Escherichia coli 15. J Gen Microbiol. 1965 Nov;41(2):151–154. doi: 10.1099/00221287-41-2-151. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- SICARD N., DEVORET R. [Effects of thymine dificiency on the K 12 T lysogenic and 15 T colicinogenic strains of Escherichia coli]. C R Hebd Seances Acad Sci. 1962 Sep 10;255:1417–1419. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- THEIL E. C., ZAMENHOF S. STUDIES ON 6-METHYLAMINOPURINE (6-METHYLADENINE) IN BACTERIAL DEOXYRIBONUCLEIC ACID. J Biol Chem. 1963 Sep;238:3058–3064. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- WYATT G. R., COHEN S. S. The bases of the nucleic acids of some bacterial and animal viruses: the occurrence of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine. Biochem J. 1953 Dec;55(5):774–782. doi: 10.1042/bj0550774. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
- WYATT G. R. The purine and pyrimidine composition of deoxypentose nucleic acids. Biochem J. 1951 May;48(5):584–590. doi: 10.1042/bj0480584. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]