Isolation and Partial Characterization of Temperature-Sensitive <i>Escherichia coli</i> Mutants with Altered Leucyl- and Seryl-Transfer Ribonucleic Acid Synthetases

Abstract

Two temperature-sensitive mutants of Escherichia coli have been found in which the conditional growth is a result of a thermosensitive leucyl-transfer ribonucleic acid (tRNA) synthetase and seryl-tRNA synthetase, respectively. The corresponding genetic loci, leuS and serS, cotransduce with lip and serC, respectively. As a result of the mutationally altered leucyl-tRNA synthetase, some leucine-, valine-, and isoleucine-forming enzymes were derepressed. Thus, leucyl-tRNA synthetase is involved in the repression of the enzymes needed for the synthesis of branched-chain amino acids.