A study of the molecular mechanism of the attenuation response in the threonine operon of Escherichia coli by synthesis of mutant attenuators

To study the role of the competing terminator and antiterminator RNA structures in attenuation regulation of the thr operon of Escherichia coli, nine related attenuators with altered symmetry were made. Transfersions that destroy or invert a base pair near the middle of the base paired regions of the alternative stem-and-loop structures of the thr regulatory region were created to examine the role of the competing secondary structures in the attenuation response. The variants include the wild type; substitution mutants 106C, 136G and 155C; the three corresponding double mutants, 106C/136G, 106C/155C, and 136G/155C; the triple mutant, 106C/136G/155C; and a single-base deletion at position 106 (106$\Delta$). The frameshift mutation removes the leader translation stop codon to determine whether unstopped ribosomes translating the distal regulatory region interfere with terminator function. All nine variants, including the wild type control, bear a deletion of position 165 as an artifact arising from the gene synthesis ligations.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Biochemistry

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2011

Author dc:creator

• Burton, William Seymour

Contributors dc:contributor

• Gumport, Richard I.

• Biology, Microbiology
• Chemistry, Biochemistry

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 1989 Burton, William Seymour

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

AAI8924780
(UMI)AAI8924780

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/22367