Method Article

Fluorescently Tagged Repressor Protein-Mediated Replication Blockage in Escherichia coli

November 28th, 2025

In This Article

Abstract

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Source: Mettrick, K. A., Lawrence, et al., Inducing a Site-Specific Replication Blockage in E. coli Using a Fluorescent Repressor Operator System. J. Vis. Exp. (2016)

This video demonstrates site-specific replication fork blockage in Escherichia coli using arabinose-induced expression of yellow fluorescent protein-tagged TetR that binds chromosomal tetO arrays.

Protocol

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1. Blocking Replication with Fluorescence Repressor Operator System (FROS)

  1. Inducing the Replication Blockage
    1. Dilute a fresh overnight culture of an E. coli strain carrying a tetO array and pKM118 to OD600nm = 0.01 in a dilute complex medium (0.1% tryptone, 0.05% yeast extract, 0.1% NaCl, 0.17 M KH2PO4, 0.72 M K2HPO4) with antibiotics as required for selection.
      NOTE: Do not add tetracycline for selection as it is not compatible with this system. Make the volume of the culture equivalent to 10 ml per sample required. For example, the ....

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Results

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Temperature-sensitive strain inactivation process diagram; fluorescence microscopy analysis.

Figure 1: Overview of the FROS Replication Block and Release Experimental Procedure. E. coli stra.......

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Materials

List of materials used in this article
NameCompanyCatalog NumberComments
TryptoneSigma-Aldrich16922Growth media component
Sodium ChlorideVWR27810.364Growth media component
Yeast extractSigma-Aldrich92144Growth media component
Potassium phosphate monobasicSigma-AldrichP9791Growth media component; Potassium buffer component
Potassium phosphate dibasicSigma-AldrichP3786Growth media component; Potassium buffer component
L-ArabinoseSigma-AldrichA3256For induction of TetR-YFP production
Axioskop 2 Fluorescence microscopeZeiss452310Visualization of cells
eYFP filter setChroma Technology41028Visualization of YFP
CCD cameraHamamatsuOrca-AGVisualization of cells
MetaMorph Software (Molecular Devices)SDR Scientific31282Version 7.8.0.0 used in the preparation of this manuscript

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Tags

Fluorescent Repressor ProteinTetracycline Operator ArrayArabinose InductionFluorescence MicroscopyTwo Dimensional Gel ElectrophoresisYellow Fluorescent ProteinTetracycline RepressorSite Specific Replication

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