PMID:8098327
| Citation |
Doublet, P, van Heijenoort, J, Bohin, JP and Mengin-Lecreulx, D (1993) The murI gene of Escherichia coli is an essential gene that encodes a glutamate racemase activity. J. Bacteriol. 175:2970-9 |
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| Abstract |
The murI gene of Escherichia coli was recently identified on the basis of its ability to complement the only mutant requiring D-glutamic acid for growth that had been described to date: strain WM335 of E. coli B/r (P. Doublet, J. van Heijenoort, and D. Mengin-Lecreulx, J. Bacteriol. 174:5772-5779, 1992). We report experiments of insertional mutagenesis of the murI gene which demonstrate that this gene is essential for the biosynthesis of D-glutamic acid, one of the specific components of cell wall peptidoglycan. A special strategy was used for the construction of strains with a disrupted copy of murI, because of a limited capability of E. coli strains grown in rich medium to internalize D-glutamic acid. The murI gene product was overproduced and identified as a glutamate racemase activity. UDP-N-acetylmuramoyl-L-alanine (UDP-MurNAc-L-Ala), which is the nucleotide substrate of the D-glutamic-acid-adding enzyme (the murD gene product) catalyzing the subsequent step in the pathway for peptidoglycan synthesis, appears to be an effector of the racemase activity. |
| Links | |
| Keywords |
Amino Acid Isomerases/biosynthesis; Amino Acid Isomerases/genetics; Base Sequence; Cell Wall/metabolism; Escherichia coli/genetics; Escherichia coli/growth & development; Genes, Bacterial/genetics; Glutamates/metabolism; Glutamic Acid; Molecular Sequence Data; Mutagenesis, Insertional; Peptidoglycan/genetics; Peptidoglycan/metabolism; Stereoisomerism; Transduction, Genetic; Uridine Diphosphate N-Acetylmuramic Acid/analogs & derivatives; Uridine Diphosphate N-Acetylmuramic Acid/metabolism |
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