Coli Sequence Research Articles

Primary structure of the Escherichia coli thyA gene and its thymidylate synthase product.

The nucleotide sequence of a 1,163-base-pair fragment that encodes the entire thyA gene of Escherichia coli K-12 was determined. The strategy involved sequence determination of both DNA strands by using overlapping deletions that had been generated in vitro from the two ends of the fragment with BAL-31 nuclease. The amino-terminal sequence of thymidylate synthase (5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate:dUMP C-methyltransferase, EC 2.1.1.45), the product of the thyA gene, located the 792-base-pair open reading frame, which codes for the 264 amino acid residues of this enzyme. The amino acid sequence deduced from the nucleotide data was confirmed to the extent of 40% by partial sequence analysis of the enzyme purified from extracts of the amplified cloned gene. Transcriptional and translational control areas were apparent in the regions flanking the structural gene. The 5-fluorodeoxyuridylate-binding residue of the active site was identified as cysteine-146. Comparison of the E. coli and Lactobacillus casei synthase sequences reveals consistent homology (62%) over extensive regions. This homology is particularly striking in a very hydrophobic region bordering cysteine-146. In the two enzymes, this region, which probably defines the active site, is 82% homologous. However, a dramatic difference between the two sequences is reflected by the surprising finding that a 51-amino-acid stretch, present midway through the L. casei sequence, is completely absent from the E. coli enzyme.

A bifunctional plasmid carrying the recA gene of E. coli.

To investigate the effect of an active, plasmid-carried recA gene on the stability and/or the expression of plasmid genes in different genetic backgrounds, we have constructed a bifunctional plasmid (able to replicate in Escherichia coli and in Bacillus subtilis). Chimeric plasmids were obtained by inserting pC194 (Ehrlich 1977) into pDR1453 (Sancar and Rupp 1979). pDR1453 is a 12.9 Kbp plasmid constructed by inserting an E. coli chromosome fragment carrying the recA gene into pBR322. The expected bifunctional recombinant (pMR22/1) (15.7 Kbp) was easily obtained but surprisingly the Cm resistance was expressed only at a very low level in E. coli (as compared, for example, to pHV14, pHV15). We attribute this effect to the presence of multiple recA genes in the cell. On the contrary, CmrE. coli transformants bear a recombinant plasmid (pMR22/n) containing tandemly repeated copies of pC194 in equilibrium with excised free pC194. Such amplification has never been observed in a Rec- background and is therefore mediated by the recA genes. Growth of these clones in the absence of Cm causes the loss of the extra copies, yielding a plasmid with a single copy of pC194, indistingishable from pMR22/1. Interestingly, we have observed that deletions occur at high frequency in pC194, which drastically increase Cmr in E. coli containing plasmids with a single copy of pC194. Two types of such deletions were detected: (a) large Δ1050 bp deletions covering about onethird of pC194 and (b) small Δ120–Δ150 bp deletions (near the MspI site) in the region containing the replicative functions of pC194 (Horinouchi and Weisblum 1982). Both types of deletion render the recombinant plasmid unable to replicate in B. subtilis. pM22/1 replicates, although with a low copy-number, and is stable in B. subtilis wild type; the recA gene of E. coli does not complement any of the rec- mutations of B. subtilis. A strong instability, mainly of the E. coli and pBR322 sequences, was observed in many dna and rec mutants of B. subtilis yielding smaller plasmid with a much higher copy-number.