Title:

Genetics and Physiology of Colicin-Tolerant Mutants of Escherichia coli

Creator:

Nagel de Zwaig, Rosa
Luria, S. E. (Salvador Edward), 1912-1991

Date:

October 1967

Description:

Discovered in the 1920s by Andre Gratia, colicins are water-soluble proteins that when produced by certain proteins, can kill similar kinds of bacteria. Initially believed to be promising anti-bacterial agents, colicins soon proved to be poorly suited for the task and for decades were largely ignored by researchers. In 1963, Masayasu Nomura demonstrated that colicins are able to kill bacteria by damaging the membrane of the bacterial cell. As a result of Nomura's work, Luria turned his focus to colicins. While on leave at the Institut Pasteur in Paris in 1963, Luria found that one particular colicin, E1, made bacterial cells incapable of accumulating the substances they required to maintain the cell by effectively blocking the function of transport of proteins through the membrane. After he returned to MIT, the colicin work became the focus of his laboratory. Here, in one of his earliest published articles on the subject, Luria found that a series of colicin-tolerant mutants of a strain of E. coli, which adsorbed colicins but were not killed by them, were isolated and studied genetically and physiologically. He found three major classes of mutants, which he termed tol II (tolerant to colicins A, E1, E2, E3, and K), tol III (tolerant to A, E2, E3, and K), and tol VIII (tolerant to E1 only). He noted that these mutants were extremely sensitive to deoxycholate and to methylene blue, acridines, and several other compounds. Luria attributed this sensitivity to increased uptake due to selective alteration of the permeability barrier.

Periodical:

Journal of Bacteriology

Publisher:

American Society for Microbiology

Rights:

Reproduced with permission of the American Society for Microbiology. and Reproduced with permission of the American Philosophical Society.

Genre:

Articles

Subject:

Cell Membrane and Colicins

Format:

Text

Extent:

12 pages

Language:

English

Legacy Source Citation:

Periodical. Nagel de Zwaig, Rosa, and Salvador E. Luria. "Genetics and Physiology of Colicin-Tolerant Mutants of Escherichia coli." Journal of Bacteriology 94, 4 (October 1967): 1112-1123. Article. 12 Images.. Journal of Bacteriology

Legacy ID:

QLBBGG

NLM ID:

101584611X88

Profiles Collection:

The Salvador E. Luria Papers

Shareable Link:

https://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/101584611X88

Story Section:

From Phage to Colicins, 1945-1972