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TrwB is the conjugative coupling protein of plasmid R388. TrwBΔN70 contains the soluble domain of TrwB. It was constructed by deletion of trwB sequences containing TrwB N-proximal transmembrane segments. Purified TrwBΔN70 protein bound tightly the fluorescent ATP analogue TNP-ATP (K8 = 8.7 μM) but did not show measurable ATPase or GTPase activity. A single ATP binding site was found per TrwB monomer. An intact ATP-binding site was essential for R388 conjugation, since a TrwB mutant with a single amino acid alteration in the ATP-binding signature (K136T) was transfer-deficient. TrwBΔN70 also bound DNA nonspecifically. DNA binding enhanced TrwC nic cleavage, providing the first evidence that directly links TrwB with conjugative DNA processing. Since DNA bound by TrwBΔN70 also showed increased negative superhelicity (as shown by increased sensitivity to topoisomerase I), nic cleavage enhancement was assumed to be a consequence of the increased single-stranded nature of DNA around nic. The mutant protein TrwB(K136T)ΔN70 was indistinguishable from TrwBΔN70 with respect to the above properties, indicating that TrwB ATP binding activity is not required for them. The reported properties of TrwB suggest potential functions for conjugative coupling proteins, both as triggers of conjugative DNA processing and as motors in the transport process., This work was supported by Dirección General de Investigación Científica y Técnica (Spain) Grant PB95-1269 (to F. C.), Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnologı́a (Spain) Grant PB96/0171, Basque Government Grant EX-1998-28, and University of the Basque Country Grant UPV 042.310-G03/98 (to F. M. G.).The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges., This work was supported by Direccio´n General de Investigación Científica y Técnica (Spain) Grant PB95-1269 (to F. C.), Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología (Spain) Grant PB96/0171, Basque Government Grant EX-1998-28, and University of the Basque Country Grant UPV 042.310-G03/98 (to F. M. G.).

The TraY protein is required for efficient bacterial conjugation by Escherichia coli F factor. TraY has two functional roles: participating in the "relaxosome," a protein-DNA complex that nicks one strand of the F factor plasmid, and up-regulating transcription from the traYI promoter. The traY gene was cloned, and the TraY protein was expressed, purified, and characterized. TraY has a mixed alpha-helix and beta-sheet secondary structure as judged by its circular dichroism spectrum, is monomeric, and undergoes reversible urea denaturation with delta Gu = 6 kcal/mol at 25 degrees C. The kinetics of protein unfolding and refolding, as measured by changes in fluorescence, are complex, suggesting the presence of intermediates or of heterogeneity in the folding reaction. TraY has been classified as a member of the ribbon-helix-helix family of transcription factors but is unusual in appearing to have tandem repeats of the beta alpha alpha motif in the same polypeptide chain. The data presented here show that folding and assembly of the functional (beta alpha alpha)2 unit occurs as an intramolecular reaction and not by cross-folding between different polypeptide chains.

The TraI protein of plasmid RP4 (IncP alpha) catalyzes a site- and strand-specific cleaving-joining reaction on form I or single-stranded DNA. Thus, TraI is one of the key components involved in the initiation and termination of horizontal DNA transfer by bacterial conjugation. Amino acid sequence comparison revealed three motifs in the TraI sequence conserved in relaxases from different origins. Site-directed mutagenesis of the traI structural gene and application of purified mutant TraI proteins for in vitro assays served to evaluate the functional importance of conserved amino acid residues. Two regions of TraI designated as motifs I and III are involved in catalyzing the cleaving-joining reaction. Motif I carries the tyrosine residue (Tyr-22), which covalently attaches TraI in a transesterification reaction to the 5' terminus of the cleaved DNA. Motif III contains one histidine residue (His-116) essential for relaxase activity and therefore proposed to activate the aromatic hydroxyl group of tyrosine 22 by proton abstraction. Exchange of a serine residue (Ser-74), located in motif II, against alanine prevents formation of stable relaxosomes but strongly enhances topoisomerase activity of the combination TraI/TraJ on form I oriT DNA. Motif II therefore might represent the DNA recognition domain of TraI. Our studies allowed us to establish a model of the interplay of three motifs located in the N-terminal region (amino acid positions 19-124) of TraI.

Conjugative transfer of the self-transmissible IncP plasmid RP4 requires the product of the RP4 traK gene. By using the phage T7 expression system, the traK gene product was efficiently overproduced and purified to near homogeneity. traK encodes a basic protein (pI = 10.7) of 14.6 kDa that, as shown by DNA fragment retention assay, interacts exclusively with its cognate transfer origin. The apparent equilibrium constant K(app) for the complex of TraK and oriT-DNA was estimated to be 4 nM. Footprinting experiments using DNase I or hydroxyl radicals indicate that several TraK molecules interact specifically with an intrinsically bent region of oriT, covering a range of almost 200 base pairs. The TraK target sequence maps in the leading region adjacent to the relaxation nick site and recognition sequences involved in relaxosome formation but does not overlap them. Specific interactions between TraK and the DNA occur only on one side of the double helix. Electron microscopy of TraK-oriT complexes demonstrates that binding of TraK to its recognition region apparently shrinks the length of the target DNA, suggesting that the nucleic acid becomes wrapped around a core of TraK molecules. Formation of this structure could be favored by the presence of the sequence-directed bend in the TraK recognition region.

Transfer of plasmid RP4 during bacterial conjugation requires the plasmid-encoded TraJ protein, which binds to the transfer origin (Furste, J. P., Pansegrau, W., Ziegelin, G., Kroger, M., and Lanka, E. (1989) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 86, 1771–1775). As indicated by traJ mutants, the TraJ protein is a constituent of the relaxosome, the initiation complex of transfer DNA replication. The traJ gene maps adjacent to the transfer origin (oriT). The structural gene consists of a 372-base pair sequence encoding a polypeptide of 122 amino acids (13,282 Da). TraJ was purified from an Escherichia coli strain overproducing the protein. DNA footprinting experiments involving DNase I demonstrated that the purified protein binds to the right arm of a 19-base pair inverted repeat within oriT. Hydroxyl radical footprints of the DNA-protein complex revealed that TraJ protein is bound to only one side of the DNA helix.