Previous Article | Next Article 
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, August 1998, p. 2041-2047, Vol. 42, No. 8
0066-4804/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Acquisition of Certain Streptomycin-Resistant
(str) Mutations Enhances Antibiotic Production in
Bacteria
Yoshiko
Hosoya,1
Susumu
Okamoto,1
Hideyuki
Muramatsu,2 and
Kozo
Ochi1,*
National Food Research
Institute,1 and
Exploratory Research
Laboratories, Fujisawa Pharmaceutical Co.,2
Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan
Received 3 February 1998/Returned for modification 5 May
1998/Accepted 9 June 1998
Physiological differentiation (including antibiotic production) in
microorganisms usually starts when cells encounter adverse environmental conditions and is frequently accompanied by an increase in the accumulation of intracellular ppGpp. We have found that the
acquisition of certain streptomycin-resistant (str)
mutations enables cells to overproduce antibiotics, demonstrating an
increase in productivity 5- to 50-fold greater than that of wild-type
strains. The frequency of such antibiotic-overproducing strains among
the str mutants was shown to range from 3 to 46%, as
examined with several strains of the genera Streptomyces,
Bacillus, and Pseudomonas. Analysis of str mutants from Bacillus subtilis
Marburg 168 revealed that a point mutation occurred within the
rpsL gene, which encodes the ribosomal protein S12,
changing Lys-56 (corresponding to Lys-43 in Escherichia
coli) to Asn, Arg, Thr, or Gln. Antibiotic productivity increased
in a hierarchical manner depending upon which amino acid residue
replaced Lys at this position. The strA1 mutation, a
genetic marker frequently used for mapping, had no effect on antibiotic
productivity even though it was found to result in an amino acid
alteration of Lys-56 to Ile. Gene replacement experiments with the
str alleles demonstrated unambiguously that the
str mutation is responsible for the antibiotic
overproductivity observed. These results offer a rational
approach for improving the production of antibiotic (secondary
metabolism) from microorganisms.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: National Food
Research Institute, 2-1-2 Kannondai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8642, Japan. Phone: 81-298-38-8125. Fax: 81-298-38-7996. E-mail:
kochi{at}ss.nfri.affrc.go.jp.

Dedicated to the late Edward Katz for his pioneering work regarding
the implication of antibiotics in microbial secondary
metabolism.
Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, August 1998, p. 2041-2047, Vol. 42, No. 8
0066-4804/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
This article has been cited by other articles:
-
Tanaka, Y., Komatsu, M., Okamoto, S., Tokuyama, S., Kaji, A., Ikeda, H., Ochi, K.
(2009). Antibiotic Overproduction by rpsL and rsmG Mutants of Various Actinomycetes. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
75: 4919-4922
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Wang, G., Inaoka, T., Okamoto, S., Ochi, K.
(2009). A Novel Insertion Mutation in Streptomyces coelicolor Ribosomal S12 Protein Results in Paromomycin Resistance and Antibiotic Overproduction. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother.
53: 1019-1026
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Wang, G., Hosaka, T., Ochi, K.
(2008). Dramatic Activation of Antibiotic Production in Streptomyces coelicolor by Cumulative Drug Resistance Mutations. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
74: 2834-2840
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Nishimura, K., Johansen, S. K., Inaoka, T., Hosaka, T., Tokuyama, S., Tahara, Y., Okamoto, S., Kawamura, F., Douthwaite, S., Ochi, K.
(2007). Identification of the RsmG Methyltransferase Target as 16S rRNA Nucleotide G527 and Characterization of Bacillus subtilis rsmG Mutants. J. Bacteriol.
189: 6068-6073
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Sojka, L., Fucik, V., Krasny, L., Barvik, I., Jonak, J.
(2007). YbxF, a Protein Associated with Exponential-Phase Ribosomes in Bacillus subtilis. J. Bacteriol.
189: 4809-4814
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Kurosawa, K., Hosaka, T., Tamehiro, N., Inaoka, T., Ochi, K.
(2006). Improvement of {alpha}-Amylase Production by Modulation of Ribosomal Component Protein S12 in Bacillus subtilis 168. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
72: 71-77
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Tamehiro, N., Hosaka, T., Xu, J., Hu, H., Otake, N., Ochi, K.
(2003). Innovative Approach for Improvement of an Antibiotic-Overproducing Industrial Strain of Streptomyces albus. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
69: 6412-6417
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Okamoto-Hosoya, Y., Hosaka, T., Ochi, K.
(2003). An aberrant protein synthesis activity is linked with antibiotic overproduction in rpsL mutants of Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2). Microbiology
149: 3299-3309
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Okamoto-Hosoya, Y., Okamoto, S., Ochi, K.
(2003). Development of Antibiotic-Overproducing Strains by Site-Directed Mutagenesis of the rpsL Gene in Streptomyces lividans. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
69: 4256-4259
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Lai, C., Xu, J., Tozawa, Y., Okamoto-Hosoya, Y., Yao, X., Ochi, K.
(2002). Genetic and physiological characterization of rpoB mutations that activate antibiotic production in Streptomyces lividans. Microbiology
148: 3365-3373
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Hu, H., Zhang, Q., Ochi, K.
(2002). Activation of Antibiotic Biosynthesis by Specified Mutations in the rpoB Gene (Encoding the RNA Polymerase {beta} Subunit) of Streptomyces lividans. J. Bacteriol.
184: 3984-3991
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Tamehiro, N., Okamoto-Hosoya, Y., Okamoto, S., Ubukata, M., Hamada, M., Naganawa, H., Ochi, K.
(2002). Bacilysocin, a Novel Phospholipid Antibiotic Produced by Bacillus subtilis 168. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother.
46: 315-320
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Inaoka, T., Kasai, K., Ochi, K.
(2001). Construction of an In Vivo Nonsense Readthrough Assay System and Functional Analysis of Ribosomal Proteins S12, S4, and S5 in Bacillus subtilis. J. Bacteriol.
183: 4958-4963
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Hu, H., Ochi, K.
(2001). Novel Approach for Improving the Productivity of Antibiotic-Producing Strains by Inducing Combined Resistant Mutations. Appl. Environ. Microbiol.
67: 1885-1892
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
-
Ashikaga, S., Nanamiya, H., Ohashi, Y., Kawamura, F.
(2000). Natural Genetic Competence in Bacillus subtilis Natto OK2. J. Bacteriol.
182: 2411-2415
[Abstract]
[Full Text]