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 Sutton, M. D.
Right arrow Articles by Walker, G. C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Sutton, M. D.
Right arrow Articles by Walker, G. C.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, February 2001, p. 1215-1224, Vol. 183, No. 4
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JB.183.4.1215-1224.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

umuDC-Mediated Cold Sensitivity Is a Manifestation of Functions of the UmuD2C Complex Involved in a DNA Damage Checkpoint Control

Mark D. Sutton and Graham C. Walker*

Biology Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139

Received 13 October 2000/Accepted 16 November 2000

The umuDC genes are part of the Escherichia coli SOS response, and their expression is induced as a consequence of DNA damage. After induction, they help to promote cell survival via two temporally separate pathways. First, UmuD and UmuC together participate in a cell cycle checkpoint control; second, UmuD'2C enables translesion DNA replication over any remaining unrepaired or irreparable lesions in the DNA. Furthermore, elevated expression of the umuDC gene products leads to a cold-sensitive growth phenotype that correlates with a rapid inhibition of DNA synthesis. Here, using two mutant umuC alleles, one that encodes a UmuC derivative that lacks a detectable DNA polymerase activity (umuC104; D101N) and another that encodes a derivative that is unable to confer cold sensitivity but is proficient for SOS mutagenesis (umuC125; A39V), we show that umuDC-mediated cold sensitivity can be genetically separated from the role of UmuD'2C in SOS mutagenesis. Our genetic and biochemical characterizations of UmuC derivatives bearing nested deletions of C-terminal sequences indicate that umuDC-mediated cold sensitivity is not due solely to the single-stranded DNA binding activity of UmuC. Taken together, our analyses suggest that umuDC-mediated cold sensitivity is conferred by an activity of the UmuD2C complex and not by the separate actions of the UmuD and UmuC proteins. Finally, we present evidence for structural differences between UmuD and UmuD' in solution, consistent with the notion that these differences are important for the temporal regulation of the two separate physiological roles of the umuDC gene products.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Biology Department, 68-633, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02139. Phone: (617) 253-6716. Fax: (617) 253-2643. E-mail: gwalker{at}MIT.EDU.

Journal of Bacteriology, February 2001, p. 1215-1224, Vol. 183, No. 4
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/JB.183.4.1215-1224.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Beuning, P. J., Chan, S., Waters, L. S., Addepalli, H., Ollivierre, J. N., Walker, G. C. (2009). Characterization of Novel Alleles of the Escherichia coli umuDC Genes Identifies Additional Interaction Sites of UmuC with the Beta Clamp. J. Bacteriol. 191: 5910-5920 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Beuning, P. J., Simon, S. M., Zemla, A., Barsky, D., Walker, G. C. (2006). A Non-cleavable UmuD Variant That Acts as a UmuD' Mimic. J. Biol. Chem. 281: 9633-9640 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Shen, X., Woodgate, R., Goodman, M. F. (2003). Escherichia coli DNA Polymerase V Subunit Exchange: A POST-SOS MECHANISM TO CURTAIL ERROR-PRONE DNA SYNTHESIS. J. Biol. Chem. 278: 52546-52550 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Sutton, M. D., Narumi, I., Walker, G. C. (2002). Posttranslational modification of the umuD-encoded subunit of Escherichia coli DNA polymerase V regulates its interactions with the beta processivity clamp. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99: 5307-5312 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Sutton, M. D., Walker, G. C. (2001). Managing DNA polymerases: Coordinating DNA replication, DNA repair, and DNA recombination. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98: 8342-8349 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Sutton, M. D., Farrow, M. F., Burton, B. M., Walker, G. C. (2001). Genetic Interactions between the Escherichia coli umuDC Gene Products and the {beta} Processivity Clamp of the Replicative DNA Polymerase. J. Bacteriol. 183: 2897-2909 [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»