Site-specific insertion and deletion mutants in the mer promoter-operator region of Tn501; the nineteen base-pair spacer is essential for normal induction of the promoter by MerR.

Abstract excerpt

We have made site-specific mutations in the promoter-operator region of the mercury-resistance (mer) operon of transposon Tn501. Mutations were selected to alter the spacing between the -10 and -35 promoter elements without altering the sequence of a 7 bp dyad symmetrical sequence, which is the site of binding of the regulatory protein, MerR. (MerR acts as a repressor in the absence of mercuric salts and as an...

Topics

• Bacterial Proteins
• Base Sequence
• Cloning, Molecular
• DNA Transposable Elements
• DNA, Ribosomal
• DNA-Binding Proteins
• Drug Resistance, Microbial
• Escherichia coli
• Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial
• Mercury