UV Exposure in Wild-Type and SOS-Deficient E. coli

UV Irradiation of the wild-type and lexA MG1655 Escherichia coli. Cells were irradiated at ~2x10^8 cells/ml in the Davis medium by 15-W germicidal lamp (254 nm, 0.66J/m^2/sec). Set also includes respective controls for unirradiated cells collected at 20 and 60 min time points. Comparison between lexA mutant and the isogenic wild-type prior the UV treatment is also included as part of the set. The SOS response in UV-irradiated Escherichia coli includes the upregulation of several dozen genes that are negatively regulated by the LexA repressor. Using DNA microarrays containing amplified DNA fragments from 95.5% of all open reading frames identified on the E. coli chromosome, we have examined the changes in gene expression following UV exposure in both wild-type cells and lexA1 mutants, which are unable to induce genes under LexA control. We report here the time courses of expression of the genes surrounding the 26 documented lexA-regulated regions on the E. coli chromosome. We observed 17 additional sites that responded in a lexA-dependent manner and a large number of genes that were upregulated in a lexA-independent manner although upregulation in this manner was generally not more than twofold. In addition, several transcripts were either downregulated or degraded following UV irradiation. These newly identified UV-responsive genes are discussed with respect to their possible roles in cellular recovery following exposure to UV irradiation. Data from the set are presented and analysed in the manuscript "Comparative gene expression profiles following UV exposure in wild type and SOS deficient Escherichia coli." Courcelle J; Khodursky A; Peter B; Brown PO; Hanawalt PC, Genetics 158: 41-64 May 2001 Keywords: other