This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Zinser, E. R.
Right arrow Articles by Kolter, R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Zinser, E. R.
Right arrow Articles by Kolter, R.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, August 2000, p. 4361-4365, Vol. 182, No. 15
0021-9193/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Prolonged Stationary-Phase Incubation Selects for lrp Mutations in Escherichia coli K-12

Erik R. Zinser and Roberto Kolter*

Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02115

Received 30 March 2000/Accepted 11 May 2000

Evolution by natural selection occurs in cultures of Escherichia coli maintained under carbon starvation stress. Mutants of increased fitness express a growth advantage in stationary phase (GASP) phenotype, enabling them to grow and displace the parent as the majority population. The first GASP mutation was identified as a loss-of-function allele of rpoS, encoding the stationary-phase global regulator, sigma S (M. M. Zambrano, D. A. Siegele, M. A. Almirón, A. Tormo, and R. Kolter, Science 259:1757-1760, 1993). We now report that a second global regulator, Lrp, can also play a role in stationary-phase competition. We found that a mutant that took over an aged culture of an rpoS strain had acquired a GASP mutation in lrp. This GASP allele, lrp-1141, encodes a mutant protein lacking the critical glycine in the turn of the helix-turn-helix DNA-binding domain. The lrp-1141 allele behaves as a null mutation when in single copy and is dominant negative when overexpressed. Hence, the mutant protein appears to retain stability and the ability to dimerize but lacks DNA-binding activity. We also demonstrated that a lrp null allele generated by a transposon insertion has a fitness gain identical to that of the lrp-1141 allele, verifying that cells lacking Lrp activity have a competitive advantage during prolonged starvation. Finally, we tested by genetic analysis the hypothesis that the lrp-1141 GASP mutation confers a fitness gain by enhancing amino acid catabolism during carbon starvation. We found that while amino acid catabolism may play a role, it is not necessary for the lrp GASP phenotype, and hence the lrp GASP phenotype is due to more global physiological changes.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA 02115. Phone: (617) 432-1776. Fax: (617) 738-7664. E-mail: kolter{at}mbcrr.harvard.edu.

Journal of Bacteriology, August 2000, p. 4361-4365, Vol. 182, No. 15
0021-9193/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Wood, D. N., Weinstein, K. E., Podbielski, A., Kreikemeyer, B., Gaughan, J. P., Valentine, S., Buttaro, B. A. (2009). Generation of Metabolically Diverse Strains of Streptococcus pyogenes during Survival in Stationary Phase. J. Bacteriol. 191: 6242-6252 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Rath, D., Jawali, N. (2006). Loss of Expression of cspC, a Cold Shock Family Gene, Confers a Gain of Fitness in Escherichia coli K-12 Strains.. J. Bacteriol. 188: 6780-6785 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Johnson, M. R., Conners, S. B., Montero, C. I., Chou, C. J., Shockley, K. R., Kelly, R. M. (2006). The Thermotoga maritima Phenotype Is Impacted by Syntrophic Interaction with Methanococcus jannaschii in Hyperthermophilic Coculture. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 72: 811-818 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • De Spiegeleer, P., Sermon, J., Vanoirbeek, K., Aertsen, A., Michiels, C. W. (2005). Role of Porins in Sensitivity of Escherichia coli to Antibacterial Activity of the Lactoperoxidase Enzyme System. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 3512-3518 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Wood, D. N., Chaussee, M. A., Chaussee, M. S., Buttaro, B. A. (2005). Persistence of Streptococcus pyogenes in Stationary-Phase Cultures. J. Bacteriol. 187: 3319-3328 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Silby, M. W., Giddens, S. R., Mahanty, H. K. (2005). Mutation of a LysR-Type Regulator of Antifungal Activity Results in a Growth Advantage in Stationary Phase Phenotype in Pseudomonas aureofaciens PA147-2. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71: 569-573 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Faure, D., Frederick, R., Wloch, D., Portier, P., Blot, M., Adams, J. (2004). Genomic Changes Arising in Long-Term Stab Cultures of Escherichia coli. J. Bacteriol. 186: 6437-6442 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Paul, K., Ghosh, A., Sengupta, N., Chowdhury, R. (2004). Competitive Growth Advantage of Nontoxigenic Mutants in the Stationary Phase in Archival Cultures of Pathogenic Vibrio cholerae Strains. Infect. Immun. 72: 5478-5482 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Farrell, M. J., Finkel, S. E. (2003). The Growth Advantage in Stationary-Phase Phenotype Conferred by rpoS Mutations Is Dependent on the pH and Nutrient Environment. J. Bacteriol. 185: 7044-7052 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Zinser, E. R., Schneider, D., Blot, M., Kolter, R. (2003). Bacterial Evolution Through the Selective Loss of Beneficial Genes: Trade-Offs in Expression Involving Two Loci. Genetics 164: 1271-1277 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Pernestig, A.-K., Georgellis, D., Romeo, T., Suzuki, K., Tomenius, H., Normark, S., Melefors, O. (2003). The Escherichia coli BarA-UvrY Two-Component System Is Needed for Efficient Switching between Glycolytic and Gluconeogenic Carbon Sources. J. Bacteriol. 185: 843-853 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Edwards, R. J., Brookfield, J. F. Y. (2003). Transiently Beneficial Insertions Could Maintain Mobile DNA Sequences in Variable Environments. Mol Biol Evol 20: 30-37 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hung, S.-p., Baldi, P., Hatfield, G. W. (2002). Global Gene Expression Profiling in Escherichia coli K12. THE EFFECTS OF LEUCINE-RESPONSIVE REGULATORY PROTEIN. J. Biol. Chem. 277: 40309-40323 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Moorthy, S., Mahadevan, S. (2002). Differential Spectrum of Mutations That Activate the Escherichia coli bgl Operon in an rpoS Genetic Background. J. Bacteriol. 184: 4033-4038 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • O'Neill, K. H., Roche, D. M., Clarke, D. J., Dowds, B. C. A. (2002). The ner Gene of Photorhabdus: Effects on Primary-Form-Specific Phenotypes and Outer Membrane Protein Composition. J. Bacteriol. 184: 3096-3105 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Robey, M., Benito, A., Hutson, R. H., Pascual, C., Park, S. F., Mackey, B. M. (2001). Variation in Resistance to High Hydrostatic Pressure and rpoS Heterogeneity in Natural Isolates of Escherichia coli O157:H7. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 67: 4901-4907 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Kelly, A. F., Park, S. F., Bovill, R., Mackey, B. M. (2001). Survival of Campylobacter jejuni during Stationary Phase: Evidence for the Absence of a Phenotypic Stationary-Phase Response. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 67: 2248-2254 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»