Genetic evidence for replication enhancement from a distance.
Rolling circle replication of the Staphylococcus aureus plasmid pT181 requires interaction of the RepC initiator protein with the origin of replication (the ori site). A second site named cmp, which is distant from ori, is thought to stimulate replication, since a mutant pT181 plasmid lacking cmp cannot coexist with a cmp+ wild-type plasmid. Second-site mutations compensating for the loss of cmp were shown to map in repC. The compensatory mutations produced RepC proteins that, unlike the wild-type, either failed to discriminate between cmp+ and cmp- plasmids or preferred cmp- to cmp+ plasmids. These studies demonstrate that cmp stimulates the interaction of the replication initiator protein with the origin and therefore enhances DNA replication from a distance.
Public Health Research Institute, New York, NY 10016.
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Gennaro
D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D004261:DNA Replication / Q000235:genetics*; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008769:Methylnitronitrosoguanidine / Q000494:pharmacology; D016296:Mutagenesis; D010957:Plasmids; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C043650:RepC protein, Staphylococcus aureus; D008769:Methylnitronitrosoguanidine