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Journal of Bacteriology, September 2000, p. 5231-5237, Vol. 182, No. 18
Department of Biological Chemistry, Faculty
of Agriculture, Yamaguchi University, Yamaguchi 753-8515, Japan
Received 30 March 2000/Accepted 28 June 2000
Elevation of active
0021-9193/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Function of the
E Regulon in
Dead-Cell Lysis in Stationary-Phase Escherichia
coli

E levels in Escherichia
coli by either repressing the expression of rseA
encoding an anti-
E factor or cloning rpoE in
a multicopy plasmid, led to a large decrease in the number of dead
cells and the accumulation of cellular proteins in the medium in the
stationary phase. The numbers of CFU, however, were nearly the same as
those of the wild type or cells devoid of the cloned gene. In the
wild-type cells, rpoE expression was increased in the
stationary phase and a low-level release of intracellular proteins was
observed. These results suggest that dead cell lysis in
stationary-phase E. coli occurs in a
E-dependent fashion. We propose there is a novel
physiological function of the
E regulon that may
guarantee cell survival in prolonged stationary phase by providing
nutrients from dead cells for the next generation.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Biological Chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Yamaguchi University,
1677-1 Yoshida, Yamaguchi 753-8515, Japan. Phone: 81-83-933-5869. Fax: 81-83-933-5820. E-mail: yamada{at}agr.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp.
Present address: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine,
Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo
113-0034, Japan.
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