A Mutant RNA Polymerase Activates the General Stress Response, Enabling Escherichia coli Adaptation to Late Prolonged Stationary Phase.

ABSTRACT: Escherichia coli populations undergo repeated replacement of parental genotypes with fitter variants deep in stationary phase. We isolated one such variant, which emerged after 3 weeks of maintaining an E. coli K-12 population in stationary phase. This variant displayed a small colony phenotype and slow growth and was able to outcompete its ancestor over a narrow time window in stationary phase. The variant also shows tolerance to beta-lactam antibiotics, though not previously exposed to the antibiotic. We show that an RpoC(A494V) mutation confers the slow growth and small colony phenotype on this variant. The ability of this mutation to confer a growth advantage in stationary phase depends on the availability of the stationary-phase sigma factor σ^S The RpoC(A494V)

SUBMITTER: Nandy P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7160681 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature