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J. Bacteriol., Jul 1997, 4158-4163, Vol 179, No. 13
JE Visick and S Clarke
A rapid spectrophotometric assay to determine the activities of HPI and
HPII catalases in Escherichia coli extracts has been developed. This assay
is based upon the differential heat stabilities of the two enzymes and
offers significant advantages over previous methods for quantitation of
their activities. Measurement of catalase activities in extracts of various
mutant strains confirmed the ability of this method to accurately
distinguish the two activities. Contrary to previously published results,
HPI catalase activity was observed to increase at stationary phase in
strains lacking the stationary-phase sigma factor sigma(s) (RpoS). This
increase was independent of OxyR and also occurred in a strain lacking the
HPII structural gene, katE. These results suggest a potential novel pathway
for HPI induction in response to increased oxidative stress in the absence
of HPII. Measurement of HPII activity in strains carrying mutations in pcm
(encoding the L- isoaspartyl protein methyltransferase) and surE led to the
finding that these strains also have an amber mutation in rpoS; sequencing
demonstrated the presence of this mutation in several commonly used
laboratory strains of E. coli, including AB1157, W1485, and JC7623.
Copyright © 1997, American Society for Microbiology
RpoS- and OxyR-independent induction of HPI catalase at stationary phase in Escherichia coli and identification of rpoS mutations in common laboratory strains
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, 90095-1569, USA.
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