RNase III Is Required for Actinomycin Production in Streptomyces antibioticus

Abstract

ABSTRACTUsing insertional mutagenesis, we have disrupted the RNase III gene,rnc, of the actinomycin-producing streptomycete,Streptomyces antibioticus. Disruption was verified by Southern blotting. The resulting strain grows more vigorously than its parent on actinomycin production medium but produces significantly lower levels of actinomycin. Complementation of therncdisruption with the wild-typerncgene fromS. antibioticusrestored actinomycin production to nearly wild-type levels. Western blotting experiments demonstrated that the disruptant did not produce full-length or truncated forms of RNase III. Thus, as is the case inStreptomyces coelicolor, RNase III is required for antibiotic production inS. antibioticus. No differences in the chemical half-lives of bulk mRNA were observed in a comparison of theS. antibioticus rncmutant and its parental strain.