title: Lytic Action of the Truncated yncE Gene in Escherichia coli.
abstract: We recently found lytic action of the truncated yncE gene. When the truncated yncE gene of Salmonella enterica serovar Paratyphi A was expressed in Escherichia coli DH5α under the control of the Ara promoter, bacterial growth was markedly inhibited. In the present study, we characterized this lytic action. The N-terminal 103 aa of YncE, containing a signal peptide, was demonstrated to be essential for inhibition. Microscopic observation showed that the bacterial envelope of E. coli was damaged by the expression of truncated yncE, resulting in the release of cytoplasmic content and the formation of bacterial ghosts. The addition of MgSO4 or spermine, which is the stabilizer of bacterial membrane structure, dramatically reversed the cell lysis induced by the toxic truncated YncE. In contrast, the lytic action was significantly enhanced by the addition of SDS or EDTA. Our data indicated that the toxic truncated YncE could cause cell lysis by the disruption of the bacterial membrane.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Third Military Medical University, Gaotanyan Street 30#, Shapingba, Chongqing, 400038, China.
authors.forename: Jianhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Third Military Medical University, Gaotanyan Street 30#, Shapingba, Chongqing, 400038, China.
authors.forename: Kun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Third Military Medical University, Gaotanyan Street 30#, Shapingba, Chongqing, 400038, China.
authors.forename: Lingyun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Third Military Medical University, Gaotanyan Street 30#, Shapingba, Chongqing, 400038, China.
authors.forename: Zhijin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Third Military Medical University, Gaotanyan Street 30#, Shapingba, Chongqing, 400038, China.
authors.forename: Yiran
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Third Military Medical University, Gaotanyan Street 30#, Shapingba, Chongqing, 400038, China.
authors.forename: Xiaomei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Third Military Medical University, Gaotanyan Street 30#, Shapingba, Chongqing, 400038, China.
authors.forename: Xiancai
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Rao
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Third Military Medical University, Gaotanyan Street 30#, Shapingba, Chongqing, 400038, China. ygcong@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Yanguang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Cong
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002462:Cell Membrane; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000502:physiology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D018628:Gene Dosage; D015870:Gene Expression; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D023061:Gene Order; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000235:genetics; D054730:Protein Interaction Domains and Motifs; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals; D017384:Sequence Deletion
chemical_list: D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals; C533370:YncE protein, E coli