Genetic analysis of thr mutations in Salmonella typhimurium

Previous workers divided threonine-requiring (Thr(-)) strains of Salmonella into three phenotypes with mutations in four complementation groups. The mutations were deemed to define four genes in the order thrD-C-A-B at minute zero on the Salmonella linkage map. In the present study 12 of these mutants were reexamined together with eight new Thr(-) strains. The three phenotypes were: homoserine-requiring (Hom(-)); Thr(-), feeders of Hom(-) strains; Thr(-), nonfeeders. Exact correlation between these phenotypic groups and three complementation groups was confirmed by abortive transduction. No evidence was found for intergenic complementation between mutations in Hom(-) strains. It is proposed that thr mutations define three genes rather than four and that these be renamed thrA (Hom(-)), thrB (Thr(-) feeders), and thrC (Thr(-) nonfeeders) to correspond with the sequence of reactions in threonine biosynthesis. Double mutant trpRthr strains were used in reciprocal three-point transduction tests to establish the order of thr mutation sites. Although revisions were made in the classification or location of several mutations, there was an overall correlation of complementation group, phenotype, and map position. The present data provide a basis for further correlation of threonine genes and biosynthetic enzymes, and analysis of cross regulation in aspartate amino acid biosynthesis in Salmonella.