Disease relevance of metF

• Nucleotide sequence of metF, the E. coli structural gene for 5-10 methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase and of its control region [1].
• Regulation of the Salmonella typhimurium metF gene by the MetR protein [2].
• Regulation of the metF gene was examined by measuring beta-galactosidase levels in E. coli strains lysogenized with the wild-type lambda Flac phage and mutant lambda Flac phage [3].

High impact information on metF

• The effects of these and another five previously described mutants on the transcriptional regulation of metF have been analysed by using a metF'-lac'Z fusion in a low copy-number plasmid [4].
• Site-directed oligonucleotide mutagenesis has been used to isolate thirty four new mutants in the regulatory region of the Escherichia coli K12 gene, metF [4].
• Comparison of the regulatory region preceding the metF structural gene with the 5' flanking region of the metBL operon shows some homology spanning 24 nucleotides [1].
• These homologous sequences could be operator structures belonging to the two transcriptional units, metF and metBL, and recognized by the same regulatory protein [1].
• Nucleotide changes in each of the MetR-binding sites away from the consensus sequence disrupt MetR-mediated regulation of the metF-lacZ fusion [2].

Biological context of metF

• The nucleotide sequence of the E.coli metF gene (888 nucleotides), coding for 5-10 methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase, has been determined [1].
• The introduction of new restriction sites within the metJBLF gene cluster due to the Tn5 insertion events allowed the metF transcription unit to be cloned into the high copy number plasmid pBR322 [5].
• Two of these mutants, lambda dmet128::Tn5, MW77 and lambda dmet128::Tn5, 3-1, were used to locate precisely as well as confirm the existence of the metF transcription unit (approximately 1,000 base pairs in size) [5].

Associations of metF with chemical compounds

• Expression of the plasmid borne metF allele in cells grown in the absence, or presence, of exogenous L methionine (0.2 mM) demonstrates that the amplification of the metF copy number does not abolish met regulon mediated control of the gene's activity [5].

References