Cloning and characterization of the prs gene encoding phosphoribosylpyrophosphate synthetase of Escherichia coli.

The gene, prs, encoding phosphoribosylpyrophosphate (PRPP) synthetase of Escherichia coli was isolated from a library of E. coli genes cloned in the bacteriophage lambda D69 vector. A strain with a temperature-lethal defect in PRPP synthetase, (prs-2), was used as the host and cloning was performed by lysogenic complementation. The prs gene resided on a 5.6 kilobase-pair (kbp) DNA fragment generated by hydrolysis with restriction endonuclease BamHI. The nearby gene pth, encoding peptidyl-tRNA hydrolase, was also on this fragment. Subcloning of the fragment in the multi-copy plasmid pBR322 and subsequent deletion of parts of the insert resulted in a 1.7 kbp DNA fragment containing the entire prs gene. Bacterial strains harbouring prs-bearing plasmids showed up to 50-fold increased PRPP synthetase activity. The PRPP synthetase subunit was identified by analysis of plasmid-harbouring minicells and the subunit molecular mass established as 33,000 daltons. Analysis, by the minicell procedure, of plasmids with deletions extending into the prs gene established the direction of transcription as counterclockwise. A putative leader sequence of approximately 400 bp preceded the coding sequence. By deletion analysis and by cloning fragments of this leader sequence in a galK expression vector it was found to contain the prs promoter as well as a potential transcription termination site.