Work

An invertible element of DNA controls phase variation of type 1 fimbriae of Escherichia coli.

Year: 1985

Type: article

Abstract: The expression of type 1 fimbriae (pili) of Escherichia coli is turned on and off at the transcriptional level at a high frequency (10(-3) per cell per generation) in a process termed phase variation. Using Southern blot and DNA sequence analysis, we have detected a genomic rearrangement in the switch region immediately upstream of the fimbrial structural gene. This rearrangement involves an invertible 314-base-pair segment of DNA whose alternating orientation apparently results in the on-and-off activation of a promoter that determines the state of fimbrial expression.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.82.17.5724

Authors: J M Abraham, C S Freitag, J R Clements, B I Eisenstein

Institution: The University of Texas at San Antonio Health Science Center

Language: English

Topic: Bacterial Genetics and Biotechnology

Subfield: Genetics

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Award: E. COLI FIMBRIAE: STRUCTURE-FUNCTION AND REGULATION