These pWTY27-derived plasmids were constructed in E. coli DH5α and introduced by transformation into S. lividans ZX7. To compare transformation frequencies of plasmids in different experiments, we used 0.1 ng DNA (diluted from a concentrated solution) of Streptomyces plasmid pIJ702 [39] each time and took 1 × 106 transformants per μg DNA as a control frequency. Reverse transcription PCR assay Strain Y27 was inoculated into tryptone soya broth (TSB, Oxoid) liquid medium, and RNA was isolated following Kieser et al. [35]. The RNA samples were treated

with DNase I (RNase-free, Takara) to remove possible NSC 683864 price contaminating DNA and reverse-transcribed into cDNA by using SuperScriptTM III Reverse Transcriptase (Invitrogen). Two primers (5′-GTGAATCTTGGGCTCGCCCTTG-3′/5′- GCCGAGAAGTGCATCCGCAAC-3′;

the expected size of the PCR product is 302 bp) were used to learn more allow amplification of segments extending from each replication gene into its immediate neighbor. PCR conditions were: template DNA denatured at 95°C for 5 min, then 95°C 30 s, 58°C 30 s, 72°C 30 s, for 30 cycles. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) The repA gene (621–2198 bp) of pWTY27 was cloned into the EcoRI and HindIII sites of E. coli plasmid pET28b to obtain pWT111, which was then introduced into E. coli BL21 (DE3). 1 mM IPTG (isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactopyranoside) was added to a log-phase culture at 16°C for 12 h to induce over-expression of the cloned gene. The LY294002 mw 6His-tagged RepA protein was eluted in buffer containing imidazole and was purified to ~90% homogeneity Thiamine-diphosphate kinase by Ni2+ column chromatography following the supplier’s instructions (Qiagen). The 300-bp sequence (321–620) was PCR-amplified

and end-labeled with [γ-32P]ATP using T4 polynucleotide kinase (New England BioLabs). The DNA-binding reaction was performed at room temperature for 10 min in buffer (20 mM Tris–HCl at pH7.5, 100 mM NaCl, 1 mM ATP and 10% glycerol). PolydIdC DNA was used as non-specific competitor and unlabeled probe as specific competitor. The reaction complexes were separated on a 5% native polyacrylamide gel in 0.5× Tris-borate-EDTA buffer at 120 V for 1 h. Gels were dried and analyzed using the Phosphorimager (Fuji). Similarly, the truncated traA gene (8124–9836 bp) of pWTY27 was cloned in pET28b to yield pWT371. The 6His-tagged TraA protein was purified by Ni2+ column chromatography and was incubated with the 175-bp (9803–9977) PCR fragment labeled with [γ-32P]ATP at room temperature for 15 min. DNA footprinting The DNase I footprinting assay followed Pan et al. [40]. Primer FTr (5′-TCGAACACGCAACCGAAAGGCCG3′) was end-labeled with [γ-32P]ATP using T4 polynucleotide kinase, and then a 300-bp (321– 620) DNA fragment was PCR-amplified with primers 32PFTr and FTf (5′-CGGCCGCCGTCCGTCTGGTG-3′), followed by purification with the Wizard SV Gel and PCR Clean-Up System (Promega). Ca. 40-ng labeled DNA and different amounts (0.17, 0.43, 0.85 and 2.