title: Mutations that activate the silent bgl operon of Escherichia coli confer a growth advantage in stationary phase.
abstract: Wild-type strains of Escherichia coli are unable to utilize aromatic beta-glucosides such as arbutin and salicin because the major genetic system that encodes the functions for their catabolism, the bgl operon, is silent and uninducible. We show that strains that carry an activated bgl operon exhibit a growth advantage over the wild type in stationary phase in the presence of the rpoS819 allele that causes attenuated rpoS regulon expression. Our results indicate a possible evolutionary advantage in retaining the silent bgl operon by wild-type bacteria.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Reproduction, Development, and Genetics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.
authors.forename: Ranjna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Madan
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kolter
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mahadevan
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D009154:Mutation; D009876:Operon / Q000235:genetics*; D018085:Regulon / Q000235:genetics; D012808:Sigma Factor / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D012808:Sigma Factor