title: E. coli growth inhibition by a high copy number derivative of plasmid pBR322.
abstract: We have observed that plasmid pKH47, a pBR322-derivative containing a 100bp poly(dA)-poly(dT) insertion, causes growth inhibition of host E. coli cells harboring it. In this paper we show that this inhibitory effect is due to an increased copy number property of this plasmid, which is turn leads to an over expression of the plasmid-encoded tet gene. Our work also indicates that contrary to other pleiotropic effects caused by the tet gene product, which solely depend on the expression of the 5' end of the gene, growth inhibition requires an intact tet gene. In addition we present the isolation of an E. coli mutant that is refractive to the inhibitory effect of pKH47 and shares some properties with the parental bacteria containing plasmid pKH4.
authors.affiliation: Division of Biomedical Sciences, Meharry Medical College, Nashville, Tennessee 37208, USA. valenz44@ccvax.mmc.edu
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Valenzuela
authors.forename: E V
authors.initials: EV
authors.lastname: Ikpeazu
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Siddiqui
mesh_terms: D001482:Base Composition; D001483:Base Sequence; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D015342:DNA Probes; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development*; D007612:Kanamycin / Q000494:pharmacology; D007613:Kanamycin Resistance / Q000235:genetics; D007700:Kinetics; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D010957:Plasmids; D011067:Poly dA-dT; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D013045:Species Specificity; D014169:Transformation, Bacterial
chemical_list: D015342:DNA Probes; D011067:Poly dA-dT; D007612:Kanamycin