Genetic complementation of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae leu2 gene by the Escherichia coli leuB gene

Leucine biosynthesis is required for infection-related morphogenesis and pathogenicity in the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae

The rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae causes one of the most devastating crop diseases world-wide and new control strategies for blast disease are urgently required. We have used insertional mutagenesis in M. oryzae to define biological processes that are critical for blast disease. Here, we report the identification of LEU2A by T-DNA mutagenesis, which putatively encodes 3-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase (3-IPMDH) required for leucine biosynthesis, implicating that synthesis of this amino acid is required for fungal pathogenesis. M. oryzae contains a further predicted 3-IPMDH gene (LEU2B), two 2-isopropylmalate synthase (2-IPMS) genes (LEU4 and LEU9) and an isopropylmalate isomerase (IPMI) gene (LEU1). Targeted gene deletion mutants of LEU1, LEU2A or LEU4 are leucine auxotrophs, and severely defective in pathogenicity. All phenotypes associated with mutants lacking LEU1, LEU2A or LEU4 could be overcome by adding exogenous leucine. The expression levels of LEU1, LEU2A or LEU4 genes were significantly down-regulated by deletion of the transcription factor gene LEU3, an ortholog of Saccharomyces cerevisiae LEU3. We also functionally characterized leucine biosynthesis genes in the wheat pathogen Fusarium graminearum and found that FgLEU1, FgLEU3 and FgLEU4 are essential for wheat head blight disease, suggesting that leucine biosynthesis in filamentous fungal pathogens may be a conserved factor for fungal pathogenicity and, therefore, a potential target for disease control.

Identification of SUMO-interacting proteins by yeast two-hybrid analysis

This chapter will discuss various adaptations of the yeast two-hybrid method for analyzing protein interactions that can be used to identify small ubiquitin-related modifier (SUMO) interacting proteins and to determine the nature of the SUMO-protein interactions that occur. SUMO binds to a protein in two different ways: covalently and noncovalently. In a covalent interaction an isopeptide bond forms between the glycine residue at the C terminus of the mature SUMO and a lysine side-chain on the substrate protein. Alternatively, SUMO can interact noncovalently with another protein, usually via insertion of a beta strand from a substrate SUMO-interacting motif (SIM) into a hydrophobic groove next to the SUMO beta2 strand. By mutating either the C-terminal diglycine motif or amino acids within the beta2 strand of SUMO, these respective interactions can be abolished. The expression of the two-hybrid SUMO constructs with either of these mutations can help distinguish the type of interaction that occurs between a SUMO and a given protein. Sumoylation can be verified by independent methods, such as a SUMO mobility shift assay. Finally, the chapter will compare the two-hybrid approach with mass spectrometric analysis as a means of identifying SUMO-interacting proteins.

Efficient expression of the Escherichia coli leuB gene in yeast

Efficient expression of the Escherichia coli leuB (beta-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase) gene occurred in yeast after in vitro DNase digestion and religation of plasmid bound leuB and the yeast HIS3 DNA which placed the 5' end of the yeast HIS3 gene immediately adjacent to the coding region of the E. coli leuB gene. Two structurally distinct classes of gene fusions were constructed, each involved portions of the yeast HIS3 gene which contributed DNA sequences responsible for leuB expression in yeast. The first class involved fusion of the HIS3 coding region to bacterial DNA resulting in the production of a fusion protein with beta-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase activity. The second class consisted of bacterial DNA, including the leuB coding region, fused to the HIS3 promotor region with the absence of any portion of the HIS3 coding region. In both constructions the HIS3 promotor region is required for transcription, however, translation of the class two fusion is initiated at a bacterial DNA coded AUG, and the 5' end of the mRNA coded by the leuB gene mapped predominantly at bacterial DNA sequences. The DNA sequence responsible for the 5' end of the HIS3 mRNAs remain in the class two gene fusions but this did not preclude the initiation of transcription at bacterial DNA sequences. The pattern of mRNA initiation at bacterial DNA suggests that DNA sequences at, or adjacent to, the site of transcription initiation are involved in the determination of the sites of initiation, and perhaps the frequency at which initiation occurs.

Mapping the viral sequences conferring leukemogenicity and disease specificity in Moloney and amphotropic murine leukemia viruses

The Moloney murine leukemia virus (MuLV) is a highly leukemogenic virus. To map the leukemogenic potential of Moloney MuLV, we constructed chimeric viral DNA genomes in vitro between parental cloned infectious viral DNA from Moloney and amphotropic 4070-A MuLVs. Infectious chimeric MuLVs were recovered by microinjection of recombinant DNA into NIH/3T3 cells and tested for their leukemogenic potential by inoculation into NIH/Swiss newborn mice. Parental Moloney MuLV and amphotropic 4070-A MuLV induced thymic and nonthymic leukemia, respectively, when inoculated intrathymically. With chimeric MuLVs, we found that the primary determinant of leukemogenicity of Moloney and amphotropic MuLVs lies within the 1.5-kilobase-pair ClaI-PvuI long terminal repeat (LTR)-containing fragment. The presence of additional Moloney env-pol sequences with the Moloney LTR enhanced the leukemogenic potential of a chimeric MuLV significantly, indicating that these sequences were also involved in tumor development. Since parental viruses induced different forms of leukemia, we could also map the viral sequences conferring this disease specificity. We found that the 1.5-kilobase-pair ClaI-PvuI LTR-containing fragment of Moloney MuLV was necessary and sufficient for a chimeric MuLV to induce thymic leukemia. Similarly, the same LTR-containing fragment of amphotropic MuLV was necessary and sufficient for a chimeric MuLV to induce nonthymic leukemia. Therefore, our results suggest that specific sequences within this short LTR-containing fragment determine two important viral functions: the ability to transform cells in vivo (leukemic transformation) and the selection of a specific population of cells to be transformed (disease specificity).

Physical mapping of the Fv-1 tropism host range determinant of BALB/c murine leukemia viruses

The murine leukemia viruses (MuLVs) have different host ranges and were originally designated N-tropic and B-tropic if they replicated preferentially in vitro on NIH and BALB/c fibroblasts, respectively. It was later found that N-tropic MuLVs were in fact restricted in BALB/c cells, that B-tropic MuLVs were restricted in NIH cells, and that both viruses were restricted in (BALB X NIH) F1 cells. A single gene, Fv-1, with two alleles, Fv-1b and Fv-1n, determines this dominant restriction. A virus-encoded protein seems to carry the viral host range determinant which is recognized by the Fv-1 gene product. To map the viral DNA sequences encoding this determinant, we constructed viral DNA recombinants in vitro between the cloned infectious viral DNA genomes from BALB/c N-tropic and B-tropic MuLVs. Infectious recombinant MuLVs were recovered by microinjecting these recombinant DNAs into murine Fv-1- SC-1 cells and were subsequently tested in vitro for their host ranges (N- or B-tropic). We found that a short 302-base pair 5'-end fragment was necessary and sufficient to confer a specific host range to a recombinant. Our sequencing data revealed that this fragment codes for amino acid sequences in gag p30. They also showed that only two consecutive amino acid differences, Gln-ArgN- and Thr-GluB-, in p30 are responsible for the N- and B-tropic host ranges of the BALB/c MuLVs, respectively. Therefore, it appears that the Fv-1b and Fv-1n gene products can discriminate between these two p30 amino acid sequences.

Cloning of a LEU gene and an ARS site of Candida maltosa

Gene libraries of DNA from an n-alkane-assimilating yeast strain, Candida maltosa IAM12247, were constructed, using Escherichia coli plasmid vector pBR322. A LEU gene from C. maltosa was cloned, and found to complement leu- mutations in E. coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In E. coli, the LEU gene in the cloned yeast DNA fragment was efficiently expressed when inserted into the vector in one orientation, while in the other orientation, it was expressed only weakly. In S. cerevisiae, the Candida LEU gene was efficiently expressed when inserted into a shuttle vector pRC3 in both orientations, suggesting that the isolated Candida DNA fragment contains a promoter sequence of Candida in front of the LEU gene, which is operative in S. cerevisiae but not in E. coli. In addition, our data suggest that the cloned LEU fragment also contains an ARS (autonomously replicating sequence) site of C. maltosa.

The high leukemogenic potential of Gross passage A murine leukemia virus maps in the region of the genome corresponding to the long terminal repeat and to the 3' end of env

The Gross passage A murine leukemia virus (MuLV) is a highly leukemogenic, ecotropic fibrotropic retrovirus. Its genome is similar to that of other nonleukemogenic ecotropic fibrotropic MuLVs but differs at the 3' end and in the long terminal repeat. To determine whether these modifications were related to its leukemogenic potential, we constructed a viral DNA recombinant in vitro with cloned infectious DNA from this highly leukemogenic Gross passage A MuLV and from a weakly leukemogenic endogenous BALB/c B-tropic MuLV. Infectious viruses, recovered after microinjection of murine cells with recombinant DNA, were injected into newborn mice. We show here that the Gross passage A 1.35-kilobase-pair KpnI fragment (harboring part of gp70, all of p15E, and the long terminal repeat) is sufficient to confer a high leukemogenic potential to this recombinant.