The sfiX, rfe and metN genes of Salmonella typhimurium and their involvement in the His^c pleiotropic response

Abstract

Two loci involved in the pleiotropic response of His^c strains of Salmonella typhimurium (sfiX and sfiY) have been characterized at the molecular level. The sfiX gene (CS 44) has been identified as a homolog of the E. coli gene sanA, located downstream of the cytidine deaminase gene (cdd). The cdd-sanA (or cdd-sfiX) operon shows a highly conserved structure in E. coli and Salmonella. Like its E. coli homolog, the sfiX gene of S. typhimurium is required for vancomycin resistance at high temperature. The dual effect of sfiX mutations (induction of vancomycin sensitivity and suppression of cell division inhibition) suggests a link between SfiX function and murein synthesis. The sfiY locus (CS 85), contains two genes arranged in a single transcriptional unit. The upstream gene is a homolog of the E. coli gene rfe; mutations in this gene suppress the cell division defect of His^c strains. The suppressor effect of rfe mutations can be reproduced by tunicamycin, suggesting that suppression of filamentation results from an increase in the intracellular concentration of UDP-N-acetyl-D-glucosamine. The gene located downstream of rfe is also found in E. coli but its function is unknown. Insertions in rfe suppress the methionine requirement of His^c strains of S. typhimurium by a polar effect on the downstream gene, tentatively designated metN. Complementation with a rfe ⁺ clone indicates that the rfe gene is not involved in the methionine requirement of His^c strains. Thus metN expression appears to cause methionine auxotrophy in a His^c background.