The peculiar behavior of dnaA, gyrA and gyrB temperature-sensitive mutants and their Hfr derivatives made recA, rnhA or both mutants


Submitted: June 29, 2017
Accepted: September 1, 2017
Published: February 12, 2018
Abstract Views: 672
PDF: 313
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

  • Erika Coppo C.A. Romanzi Section of Microbiology, Department of Surgical Sciences and Integrated Diagnostic (DISC), University of Genoa, Italy.
  • Anna Marchese C.A. Romanzi Section of Microbiology, Department of Surgical Sciences and Integrated Diagnostic (DISC), University of Genoa; Microbiological Unit, San Martino Polyclinic Hospital, Genoa, Italy.
  • Eugenio Agenore Debbia C.A. Romanzi Section of Microbiology, Department of Surgical Sciences and Integrated Diagnostic (DISC), University of Genoa, Italy.
The role of the recA and rnhA mutations on the growth of different thermo-sensitive mutants at the non permissive temperature was studied. The growth of Hfr strains selected by integrative suppression in a dnaA(Ts) mutant was found strongly dependent on the RecA protein. This latter gene product was also essential for gyrA(Ts) and gyrB(Ts), rnhA double mutants for growing at 43°C. This RecA+ dependent cell multiplication was due to the fact that all the strains studied initiated their DNA synthesis from site(s) different from the normal gene oriC. This phenomenon causes in the cell a non-stop production of the bacterial genome with concomitant disorders in the bacterial division process. It has been suggested that when the growth of the microorganism is driven by an extra-chromosomal genetic element it behaves like a transformed tumor cell. Thus the bacterial model may present many advantages for studying the mechanisms by which cells lose the control of their division process because of an infecting foreign genetic element integrated in their chromosome.

Supporting Agencies

University of Genoa

Coppo, E., Marchese, A., & Debbia, E. A. (2018). The peculiar behavior of dnaA, gyrA and gyrB temperature-sensitive mutants and their Hfr derivatives made recA, rnhA or both mutants. Journal of Biological Research - Bollettino Della Società Italiana Di Biologia Sperimentale, 90(2). https://doi.org/10.4081/jbr.2017.6869

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations