The molecular genetics of superoxide dismutase in E. coli

The biological role and the regulation of superoxide dismutase (SOD) in E. coli have been investigated using genetics. Cloning of both E. coli SOD genes permitted construction of mutants completely lacking SOD. The conditional oxygen sensitivity of those mutants, together with their increased mutation rate, demonstrated the essential biological role of SOD. SOD-deficient mutants constitute a powerful tool to assess a possible role of O-2 or SOD in biological processes. Complementation of their deficiencies by the expression of SOD originating from a different organism is used for screening libraries for SOD genes of other species. Regulation of MnSOD has been studied using protein and operon fusions with the lactose operon, and isolating regulation mutants. These studies reveal multiregulation of MnSOD including response to the superoxide mediated oxidative stress and response to variations of the intracellular redox state induced by metabolic changes.