title: Use of a dominant rpsL allele conferring streptomycin dependence for positive and negative selection in Thermus thermophilus.
abstract: A spontaneous rpsL mutant of Thermus thermophilus was isolated in a search for new selection markers for this organism. This new allele, named rpsL1, encodes a K47R/K57E double mutant S12 ribosomal protein that confers a streptomycin-dependent (SD) phenotype to T. thermophilus. Models built on the available three-dimensional structures of the 30S ribosomal subunit revealed that the K47R mutation directly affects the streptomycin binding site on S12, whereas the K57E does not apparently affect this binding site. Either of the two mutations conferred the SD phenotype individually. The presence of the rpsL1 allele, either as a single copy inserted into the chromosome as part of suicide plasmids or in multicopy as replicative plasmids, produced a dominant SD phenotype despite the presence of a wild-type rpsL gene in a host strain. This dominant character allowed us to use the rpsL1 allele not only for positive selection of plasmids to complement a kanamycin-resistant mutant strain, but also more specifically for the isolation of deletion mutants through a single step of negative selection on streptomycin-free growth medium.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biologia Molecular Severo Ochoa, CSIC-UAM, Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Emilio
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Blas-Galindo
authors.forename: Felipe
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cava
authors.forename: Eduardo
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: López-Viñas
authors.forename: Jesús
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mendieta
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Berenguer
mesh_terms: D000483:Alleles; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000235:genetics; D007613:Kanamycin Resistance / Q000235:genetics; D008957:Models, Genetic; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics; D012269:Ribosomal Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D013307:Streptomycin / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D016963:Thermus thermophilus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D012269:Ribosomal Proteins; C034212:ribosomal protein S12; D013307:Streptomycin