Indolmycin-mediated inhibition and stimulation of transcription at the trp promoter of Escherichia coli.

Escherichia coli cells harboring a non-attenuated trp-lac operon fusion were used to evaluate the effects of indolmycin on the initiation of transcription at the trp promoter. Indolmycin caused repression in trpR+ strains and in trpR deletion mutants, although higher effector concentrations were required in the latter situation. Plasmid-mediated elevation in tryptophanyl-tRNA synthetase reversed the inhibitory effect of indolmycin. Indolmycin did not facilitate the binding of purified Trp repressor protein to trp operator DNA.