sbcC Genes Research Articles

Bacillus subtilis SbcC protein plays an important role in DNA inter-strand cross-link repair.

BackgroundSeveral distinct pathways for the repair of damaged DNA exist in all cells. DNA modifications are repaired by base excision or nucleotide excision repair, while DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) can be repaired through direct joining of broken ends (non homologous end joining, NHEJ) or through recombination with the non broken sister chromosome (homologous recombination, HR). Rad50 protein plays an important role in repair of DNA damage in eukaryotic cells, and forms a complex with the Mre11 nuclease. The prokaryotic ortholog of Rad50, SbcC, also forms a complex with a nuclease, SbcD, in Escherichia coli, and has been implicated in the removal of hairpin structures that can arise during DNA replication. Ku protein is a component of the NHEJ pathway in pro- and eukaryotic cells.ResultsA deletion of the sbcC gene rendered Bacillus subtilis cells sensitive to DNA damage caused by Mitomycin C (MMC) or by gamma irradiation. The deletion of the sbcC gene in a recN mutant background increased the sensitivity of the single recN mutant strain. SbcC was also non-epistatic with AddAB (analog of Escherichia coli RecBCD), but epistatic with RecA. A deletion of the ykoV gene encoding the B. subtilis Ku protein in a sbcC mutant strain did not resulted in an increase in sensitivity towards MMC and gamma irradiation, but exacerbated the phenotype of a recN or a recA mutant strain. In exponentially growing cells, SbcC-GFP was present throughout the cells, or as a central focus in rare cases. Upon induction of DNA damage, SbcC formed 1, rarely 2, foci on the nucleoids. Different to RecN protein, which forms repair centers at any location on the nucleoids, SbcC foci mostly co-localized with the DNA polymerase complex. In contrast to this, AddA-GFP or AddB-GFP did not form detectable foci upon addition of MMC.ConclusionOur experiments show that SbcC plays an important role in the repair of DNA inter-strand cross-links (induced by MMC), most likely through HR, and suggest that NHEJ via Ku serves as a backup DNA repair system. The cell biological experiments show that SbcC functions in close proximity to the replication machinery, suggesting that SbcC may act on stalled or collapsed replication forks. Our results show that different patterns of localization exist for DNA repair proteins, and that the B. subtilis SMC proteins RecN and SbcC play distinct roles in the repair of DNA damage.

Genes involved in the determination of the rate of inversions at short inverted repeats.

Not all of the enzymatic pathways involved in genetic rearrangements have been elucidated. While some rearrangements occur by recombination at areas of high homology, others are mediated by short, often interrupted homologies. We have previously constructed an Escherichia coli strain that allows us to examine inversions at microhomologies, and have shown that inversions can occur at short inverted repeats in a recB,C-dependent fashion. Here, we report on the use of this strain to define genetic loci involved in limiting rearrangements on an F' plasmid carrying the lac genes. Employing mini-Tn10 derivatives to generate insertions near or into genes of interest, we detected three loci (rmuA,B,C) that, when mutated, increase inversions. We have mapped, cloned and sequenced these mutator loci. In one case, inactivation of the sbcC gene leads to an increase in rearrangements, and in another, insertions near the recE gene lead to an even larger increase. The third gene involved in limiting inversions, rmuC, has been mapped at 86 min on the E. coli chromosome and encodes a protein of unknown function with a limited homology to myosins, and some of the SMC (structural maintenance of chromosomes) proteins. This work presents the first example of an anti-mutator role of the sbcC,D genes, and defines a new gene (rmuC) involved in DNA recombination.

Pathways for homologous recombination between chromosomal direct repeats in Salmonella typhimurium.

Homologous recombination pathways probably evolved primarily to accomplish chromosomal repair and the formation of and resolution of duplications by sister-chromosome exchanges. Various DNA lesions initiate these events. Classical recombination assays, involving bacterial sex, focus attention on double-strand ends of DNA. Sexual exchanges, initiated at these ends, depend on the RecBCD pathway. In the absence of RecBCD function, mutation of the sbcB and sbcC genes activates the apparently cryptic RecF pathway. To provide a more general view of recombination, we describe an assay in which endogenous DNA damage initiates recombination between chromosomal direct repeats. The repeats flank markers conferring lactose utilization (Lac+) and ampicillin resistance (ApR); recombination generates Lac-ApS segregants. In this assay, the RecF pathway is not cryptic; it plays a major role without sbcBC mutations. Others have proposed that single-strand gaps are the natural substrate for RecF-dependent recombination. Supporting this view, recombination stimulated by a double-strand break (DSB) in a chromosomal repeat depended on RecB function, not RecF function. Without RecBCD function, sbcBC mutations modified the RecF pathway and allowed it to catalyze DSB-stimulated recombination. Sexual recombination assays overestimate the importance of RecBCD and DSBs, and underestimate the importance of the RecF pathway.

Identification of sbcD mutations as cosuppressors of recBC that allow propagation of DNA palindromes in Escherichia coli K-12.

The function of an open reading frame (orf-45) located upstream of the sbcC gene of Escherichia coli was investigated. Mutations that inactivate sbcC improve the ability to propagate lambda red gam phage that carry a palindromic sequence in their DNA. They also act with sbcB mutations as cosuppressors of the defects in recombination, DNA repair, and cell viability associated with recBC mutations. A 1,282-bp cassette encoding resistance to kanamycin was used to disrupt orf-45. The mutation, which has a polar effect on the expression of sbcC, allowed stable propagation of palindromic lambda phage even when the sbcC gene product was provided in trans. Additional nonpolar mutations in orf-45 were isolated on the basis of their ability to improve the growth of recBC sbcB strains. These mutations also confer resistance to mitomycin C, allow efficient recombination in Hfr crosses, and facilitate stable propagation of palindromic phage. It is concluded that the products of orf-45 and sbcC are functionally related. The orf-45 gene is therefore renamed sbcD.

Mapping, sequence, and apparent lack of function of araJ, a gene of the Escherichia coli arabinose regulon

We report the mapping, sequencing, and study of the physiological role of the fourth arabinose-inducible operon from Escherichia coli, araJ. It is located at 9 min on the chromosome and codes for a single 42-kDa protein that shows no significant homology to other known proteins. Destruction of the chromosomal araJ gene does not detectably affect either of the two arabinose transport systems, the ability of cells to grow on arabinose, or the induction kinetics of the araBAD operon, and thus the physiological role of AraJ, if any, remains unknown. We have also found a long open reading frame upstream of araJ. The sequence of this upstream open reading frame was found to be identical to the previously reported sequence of the sbcC gene (I. S. Naom, S. J. Morton, D. R. F. Leach, and R. G. Lloyd, Nucleic Acids Res. 17:8033-8044, 1989). The carboxyl region of SbcC has an amino acid sequence consistent with this region of SbcC forming an extended alpha-helical coiled-coil.

Linkage distortion following conjugational transfer of sbcC+ to recBC sbcBC strains of Escherichia coli

Conjugational recombination in Escherichia coli depends normally on RecBCD enzyme, a multifunctional nuclease and DNA helicase produced by the recB, recC, and recD genes. However, recombination can proceed efficiently without RecBCD in recB or recC strains carrying additional mutations in both the sbcB and sbcC genes. Recombination in these strains, sometimes referred to as the RecF pathway, requires gene products that are not essential in the RecBCD-dependent process predominating in the wild type. It has also been reported to produce a different spectrum of recombinant genotypes in crosses with Hfr donors. However, the sbcC+ gene was unknowingly transferred to the recipient strain in some of these crosses, and this may have affected the outcome. This possibility was examined by conducting parallel crosses with Hfr donors that were either wild type or mutant for sbcC. Transfer of sbcC+ from an Hfr donor is shown to alter the frequency of recombinant genotypes recovered. There is a severe reduction in progeny that inherit donor markers linked to the sbcC+ allele and an increase in the incidence of multiple exchanges. Colonies of mixed genotype for one or more of the unselected proximal markers are also much more prevalent. Since the yield of recombinants is lower than normal, these changes are attributed to the reduced viability of recombinants that inherit sbcC+ from the Hfr donor. When the Hfr donor used is also mutant for sbcC, the yield of recombinants is greater and the frequencies of the different genotypes recovered are similar to those obtained in crosses with a rec+ sbc+ recipient, in which transfer of sbcC+ has no apparent effect. Earlier studies are re-examined in light of these findings. It is concluded that, while recombination in recBC sbcBC strains involves different enzymes, the underlying molecular mechanism is essentially the same as that in the wild type.

Interaction between the sbcC gene of Escherichia coli and the gam gene of phage lambda.

gam mutants of phage lambda carrying long palindromes fail to form plaques on wild-type Escherichia coli but do grow on strains that are mutant in the sbcC gene. gam + lambda carrying the same palindrome grow on both hosts and on a host deleted for the recB, C and D genes. These results suggest that the Gam protein of lambda, known to interact also with E. coli's recBCD protein, can interact with the product of the sbcC gene.

Molecular organization ofsbcC, a gene that affects genetic recombination and the viability of DNA palindromes inEscherichia coliK-12

The sbcC gene product of Escherichia coli interferes with the growth of a lambda red gam phage carrying a long palindrome in its DNA. This phenotype was used to identify recombinant plasmids harbouring the wild-type gene and to isolate sbcC mutant derivatives carrying Tn1000 insertions. Analysis of these plasmids located sbcC between proC and phoR at a slightly different position from that reported before (Lloyd, R.G. and Buckman, C. 1985, J. Bacteriol. 164, 836-844). Nucleotide sequencing revealed that the gene spans a DNA segment of 3.3 kb that encodes a poorly expressed protein of 118 kDa and which lies downstream of a gene of unknown function that encodes a polypeptide of 45 kDa. The amino acid sequence of SbcC contains a nucleotide binding fold similar to that in RecB and other recombination proteins.