Fine structure analysis of Salmonella typhimurium glutamate synthase genes

Glutamate synthase activity is required for the growth of Salmonella typhimurium on media containing a growth-rate-limiting nitrogen source. Mutations that alter glutamate synthase activity had been identified in the gltB gene, but it was not known which of the two nonidentical subunits of the enzyme was altered. To examine the gene-protein relationship of the glt region, two nonsense mutations were identified and used to demonstrate that gltB encodes the large subunit of the enzyme. Six strains with independent Mu cts d1 (lac bla) insertions were isolated, from which a collection of deletion mutations was obtained. The deletions were transduced with the nonsense mutations and 38 other glt point mutations to construct a fine-structure genetic map. Chromosome mobilization studies, mediated by Hfr derivatives of Mu cts d1 lysogens, showed that gltB is transcribed in a clockwise direction, as shown in the S. typhimurium linkage map. Studies of the polar effects of three Mu cts d1 insertions indicated that the gene for the small subunit maps clockwise to gltB and that the two genes are cotranscribed to form a glt operon.