Mechanism Studies of Suppressor-Gene Action

Abstract

Brody, Stuart (Stanford University, Stanford, Calif.), and Charles Yanofsky . Mechanism studies of suppressor-gene action. J. Bacteriol. 90: 687–695. 1965.—Mutations which change the primary structure of the A protein of the tryptophan synthetase of Escherichia coli can be reversed by allele-specific suppressor mutations. Normally, the suppressors of a particular A mutant lead to the appearance of small amounts of a wild-type-like A protein (su-A protein), in addition to the cross-reacting material antigenically similar to the normal A protein (CRM-A protein). In some cases, the particular ratio of su-A protein to CRM-A protein, indicative of a given suppressor gene, was increased when that suppressor gene was transduced into a different strain, such as a K-12 Hfr stock of E. coli . In these cases, there was a general correlation between an increased ratio and a marked instability of the suppressor gene. However, stable suppressed stocks were isolated in the Hfr strain, which also produced a high proportion of su-A protein. The ratios of su-A protein to CRM-A protein remained relatively constant under conditions of tryptophan repression in three different suppressor stocks, suggesting that the formation of each of the su-A proteins does not involve the interaction of a CRM-A protein with any other cellular constituent. It would appear, then, that the changes in the primary structure of the A protein which lead to the formation of the su-A proteins are determined before or during, but not after, the synthesis of the polypeptide chain. The specificity of amino acid activation was investigated in strains bearing one of the suppressor genes. These studies failed to reveal any significant alteration in the amino acyl ribonucleic acid (RNA) synthetases or the transfer RNA molecules for arginine, glycine, histidine, and tyrosine.