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. 1980 Jan;141(1):106–110. doi: 10.1128/jb.141.1.106-110.1980

Control of Plasmid R1 Replication: Kinetics of Replication in Shifts Between Different Copy Number Levels

Petter Gustafsson 1,†, Kurt Nordström 1
PMCID: PMC293540  PMID: 6986352

Abstract

Plasmid R1 replication was studied in shifts between two steady states of copy number. The copy number was varied in two ways. First, we utilized the fact that it decreases with increasing growth rate. To minimize the metabolic effects of changes in the growth rate, the downshifts were obtained by adding α-methylglucoside to cultures growing in glucose-minimal medium, and the upshifts were obtained by adding glucose to cultures growing in the presence of glucose plus α-methylglucoside. Second, we used a temperature-dependent copy mutant of plasmid R1 (pKN301). Plasmid pPK301 shows a threefold higher copy number at 40 than at 30°C. In both types of shift, plasmid replication immediately adjusted to the postshift differential rate. The copy number asymptotically adjusted to the new steady state. Hence, the system that controls plasmid R1 replication sets the frequency of replication without measuring the actual copy number. It has been suggested that plasmid R1 replication is under negative control by an R1-mediated repressor protein. Among the replication control models that involve negative control, the Pritchard inhibitor dilution model, the Sompayrac-Maaløe autorepressor model, and the plasmid λdv system all predict gene dose-independent copy number control.

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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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