Behavior of a hybrid F' ts114 lac+, his+ factor (F42-400) in Klebsiella pneumoniae M5a1

Abstract

Episome F' ts114 lac+, his+ (F42-400) was transferred from Salmonella typhimurium to Klebsiella pneumoniae. From the progeny, a strain of K. pneumoniae able to retransfer the episome was obtained. The His+ phenotype in this strain is temperature sensitive. Escherichia coli female-specific phages phiII, W31, and T3 were shown to plate on K. pneumoniae. From phiII we obtained two derivatives; phiIIK, which plates only on K. pneumoniae, and phiIIE, which plates only on E. coli. Growth of phages T3 and phiIIK was inhibited by F42-400 in K. pneumoniae. Growth in presence of acridine orange in a defined medium at 40 C resulted in a high level of curing. The frequency of His+ cells after growth in acridine orange at 40 C was 0.001%. An extensive search to detect chromosome mobilization by F42-400 in K. pneumoniae, under different experimental conditions, was negative. We cannot exclude the possibility that the low transfer efficiencies prevented our detection of chromosome mobilization. A search among temperature-resistant, acridine orange-curing-resistant, or galactose-resistant derivatives of the K. pneumoniae donor strain failed to reveal any chromosome transfer. Our failure to detect Hfr's may be a result of: (i) the peculiarity of episome F42-400, (ii) the peculiarity of K. pneumoniae chromosome, or (iii) low transfer efficiency. K. pneumoniae-modified F42-400 and phage 424 were restricted by E. Coli K-12. E. coli K-12-modified episome F42-400 and phage 424 were restricted by K. pneumoniae. E. coli C failed to restrict F42-400 modified with K. pneumoniae specificity. The ability of K. pneumoniae to accept F42-400 is less, by about a factor of 50, than that of E. coli C. As an explanation for the differences in the behavior of E. coli C and K. pneumoniae in ability to receive F42-400 it was suggested that recipient bacteria have specific sites for interaction with the F-pilus tip; these are present in E. Coli C, leading to high transfer efficiency, whereas they may not be present (or if present, are not accessible) in K. pneumoniae, leading to low transfer efficiency.

Isolation of a hybrid F' factor-carrying Escherichia coli lactose region and Salmonella typhimurium histidine region, F42-400 (F' ts114 lac+, his+): its partial characterization and behavior in Salmonella typhimurium

“…Our results are not strictly comparable with those of Macrina and Balbinder (41) because of differences in culture conditions and strains. The maximal transfer frequency of F42-400 in S. typhimurium (5 to 10%; Table 6) is similar to that in E. coli (6%) (50). Maximum transfer frequency of F42-400 was observed in only one strain, BS225, whereas with three other strains the frequency was only 0.05 to 0.2%.…”

Mutational alteration of a nitrogen-fixing bacterium to sensitivity to infection by bacteriophage Mu: isolation of nif mutations of Klebsiella pneumoniae M5al induced by Mu

“…Media. Most of the media used have already been described (15,16,19). M9 and E media were used as minimal media.…”

“…Culture conditions. Culture conditions of bacte-ria and phages have already been described (15,16). For assaying phage, fresh overnight cultures of bacteria grown in broth at 25°C without forced aeration were used.…”

“…Phage-sensitivity tests. These were done either by the cross-streak method (16) or by spotting dilutions of phage on bacteria to be tested on 4) plates. Scoring was done after overnight incubation at 42°C.…”

Bacteriophage T3 and bacteriophage T7 virus-host cell interactions.

“…Bacteriophages T3 and T7 belong to the classical T series of bacteriophages (94). Not only the traditional Escherichia coli laboratory strains but also certain strains of Shigella sonnei (140,164), Salmonella typhimurium (43), Klebsiella pneumoniae (379,424), and Pasteurella (165) are permissive hosts. However, all essential knowledge about T3 and T7 virus-host interactions and the molecular biology of T3 and T7 was acquired in the E. coli system.…”