Anaerobically induced genes of Escherichia coli

A collection of anaerobically induced gene fusions were isolated, and representative isolates were characterized with respect to their regulatory properties, phenotypes, and approximate map locations. Four fusion strains that had defects in the anaerobic metabolism of asparagine or aspartate were found. These fusions were all repressed by alternate electron acceptors, ammonia, and glucose but were induced by other sugars. Several other fusion strains which demonstrated no observable phenotype showed diverse regulatory responses. The anaerobically induced fusions were scattered around the Escherichia coli chromosome more or less at random, suggesting that all the isolates examined were in separate genes.