Mutations in the L-arabinose operon of Escherichia coli B/r with reduced initiator function.

Partial reversion mutants derived from a strain containing a strongly polar initiator-defective mutation (araI1036) in the L-arabinose operon were found to have several characteristics expected of mutants with reduced initiator function. These reversion mutations are cotransduced with the ara region and are probably within the araI region. Furthermore, they permit induction of the L-arabinose operon to a level only one-third of the normal wild-type level. These partially functional initiator regions reduce the expression of structural genes in the cis position only; they function quite independently of wild-type or defective initiator regions in the trans position. These mutants exhibit a two- to threefold increase in the rate of expression of ara operon genes within one-tenth of a generation after a shift of the growth temperature from 28 to 42 degrees C. This suggests that the temperature optimum for initiation of operon expression is higher for the partial revertant strains than it is for strains containing a wild-type initiator region.