Characterization of the ftsYEX operon of Escherichia coli

Abstract

Chapter 1. Introduction General Introduction Dissertation Organization Literature Review A timeline of research begins with investigators at the Institut Pasteur A putative cold-sensitive mutant of ftsE Important work on ftsE in the United Kingdom: 1980s ftsE questioned as a cell division gene Cell division, transport, and now flagella: The list of pleiotropies grows Regulation of the ftsYEX operon and more important work in the United Kingdom: 1990's The focus of the operon becomes ftsY, the SRP docking protein homologue Beyond ftsY, the homologies offtsE and ftsX: E. coli genetics applied to other systems Regulation revisited A possible explanation for the pleiotropic phenotype of an ftsE mutant: A unifying hypothesis A comprehensive characterization offtsEX The global picture Literature Cited Chapter 2. Characterization of a null mutant of ftsE of Escherichia coli Introduction Materials and Methods 52 Results 54 Discussion 71 Literature Cited 74 V Chapter 3. Phumid shuffling system for the isolation of temperature-sensitive mutants in essential genes of Escherichia coli Introduction Materials and Methods 78 Results and Disussion 80 Literature Cited 88 Chapter 4. Cell division septation machinery intact in a filamented ftsE'. :kanl null mutant of Escherichia coli 89 Introduction 89 Materials and Methods 91 Results 93 Discussion 107 Literature Cited 109 Chapter 5. A cold-senstive mutant of ftsX of Escherichia coli revisited 110 Introduction 110 Materials and Methods 111 Results and Discussion 113 Literature Cited 117 Chapter 6. General Conclusions 118