Mutations Affecting Potassium Import Restore the Viability of the Escherichia coli DNA Polymerase III holD Mutant

Mutants lacking the ψ (HolD) subunit of the Escherichia coli DNA Polymerase III holoenzyme (Pol III HE) have poor viability, but a residual growth allows the isolation of spontaneous suppressor mutations that restore ΔholD mutant viability. Here we describe the isolation and characterization of two suppressor mutations in the trkA and trkE genes, involved in the main E. coli potassium import system. Viability of ΔholD trk mutants is abolished on media with low or high K+ concentrations, where alternative K+ import systems are activated, and is restored on low K+ concentrations by the inactivation of the alternative Kdp system. These findings show that the ΔholD mutant is rescued by a decrease in K+ import. The effect of trk inactivation is additive with the previously identified ΔholD suppressor mutation lexAind that blocks the SOS response indicating an SOS-independent mechanism of suppression. Accordingly, although lagging-strand synthesis is still perturbed in holD trkA mutants, the trkA mutation allows HolD-less Pol III HE to resist increased levels of the SOS-induced bypass polymerase DinB. trk inactivation is also partially additive with an ssb gene duplication, proposed to stabilize HolD-less Pol III HE by a modification of the single-stranded DNA binding protein (SSB) binding mode. We propose that lowering the intracellular K+ concentration stabilizes HolD-less Pol III HE on DNA by increasing electrostatic interactions between Pol III HE subunits, or between Pol III and DNA, directly or through a modification of the SSB binding mode; these three modes of action are not exclusive and could be additive. To our knowledge, the holD mutant provides the first example of an essential protein-DNA interaction that strongly depends on K+ import in vivo.