GENETIC MAPPING AND SOME CHARACTERIZATION OF THE rnpA49 MUTATION OF ESCHERICHIA COLI THAT AFFECTS THE RNA-PROCESSING ENZYME RIBONUCLEASE P

A mutant defective in the enzyme RNase P was isolated by P. SCHEDL and P. PRIMAKOFF (1973). The mutation rnpA49 found in this strain, which confers temperature sensitivity on carrier strains, was mapped by conjugation and transduction experiments and located around minute 82 of the E . coli map, with the suggested order rnpA bglB phoS rbsP ilv. As expected, the rnpA49 mutation is recessive. Even though this mutation is conditional, it is manifested at temperatures at which the carrier strains can grow.