title: An invertible element of DNA controls phase variation of type 1 fimbriae of Escherichia coli.
abstract: The expression of type 1 fimbriae (pili) of Escherichia coli is turned on and off at the transcriptional level at a high frequency (10(-3) per cell per generation) in a process termed phase variation. Using Southern blot and DNA sequence analysis, we have detected a genomic rearrangement in the switch region immediately upstream of the fimbrial structural gene. This rearrangement involves an invertible 314-base-pair segment of DNA whose alternating orientation apparently results in the on-and-off activation of a promoter that determines the state of fimbrial expression.
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Abraham
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Freitag
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Clements
authors.forename: B I
authors.initials: BI
authors.lastname: Eisenstein
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D007446:Chromosome Inversion; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics*; D010861:Fimbriae, Bacterial; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D005796:Genes; D005809:Genes, Regulator; D008040:Genetic Linkage; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011995:Recombination, Genetic
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial