Effect of alkylating agents on the expression of inducible genes of Escherichia coli

Autogenous regulation and kinetics of induction of Pseudomonas aeruginosa recA transcription as analyzed with operon fusions

A promoterless chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene (cat) was used to construct recA-cat operon fusions to quantitatively examine the transcriptional regulation of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa recA gene in P. aeruginosa PAO. Wild-type P. aeruginosa containing the recA8-cat fusion was treated with methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) and showed immediate induction of chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) specific activity, whereas a recA::Tn501 mutant of P. aeruginosa containing recA8-cat showed no induction with MMS. This indicated that a functional copy of recA was required for derepression of recA transcription and that P. aeruginosa recA protein was a positive regulatory factor promoting its own expression. Compared with that in the wild type, the uninduced level of CAT in recA8-cat-containing cells was reduced by approximately one-half in the recA::Tn501 mutant, indicating that recA+-dependent spontaneous induction contributes to the uninduced levels of recA expression in P. aeruginosa. MMS (0.012%) caused recA-directed CAT synthesis to increase almost immediately, with maximum CAT activity, fourfold higher than uninduced levels, attained at 60 min postinduction. The kinetics of recA8-cat fusion activity were shown to be directly related to the MMS doses used. Another fusion called recAa1-cat, where cat was located between the two transcriptional terminators of the P. aeruginosa recA gene, also showed dose-dependent induction by MMS, but the CAT activity from recAa1-cat was only one-half of that obtained with recA8-cat under the same conditions. Treatment of recA+ P. aeruginosa containing recA8-cat with UV irradiation produced an immediate effect on recA8-cat transcription and showed little UV dose dependency at doses of 5 J/m2 or greater. Treatment with 10 J/m2 produced peak levels of recA-directed CAT activity, fivefold higher than background levels, by 60 min postirradiation; CAT activity remained at peak levels during the 120 min of the experiment. In contrast, nalidixic acid had a weak effect on recA8-cat expression in P. aeruginosa, although the response was dose dependent. Nalidixic acid (800 micrograms/ml) produced maximal CAT activity that was only twofold higher than background levels.

Inhibition of the SOS response of Escherichia coli by the Ada protein

Induction of the adaptive response by N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) caused a decrease in the UV-mediated expression of both recA and sfiA genes but not of the umuDC gene. On the other hand, the adaptive response did not affect the temperature-promoted induction of SOS response in a RecA441 mutant. The inhibitory effect on the UV-triggered expression of the recA and sfiA genes was not dependent on either the alkA gene or the basal level of RecA protein, but rather required the ada gene. Furthermore, an increase in the level of the Ada protein, caused by the runaway plasmid pYN3059 in which the ada gene is regulated by the lac promoter, inhibited UV-mediated recA gene expression even in cells to which the MNNG-adaptive treatment had not been applied. This inhibitory effect of the adaptive pretreatment was not observed either in RecBC- strains or in RecBC mutants lacking exonuclease V-related nuclease activity. However, RecF- mutants showed an adaptive response-mediated decrease in UV-promoted induction of the recA gene.