SYNTHESIS OF THIAMINE IN SALMONELLA-TYPHIMURIUM INDEPENDENT OF THE PURF FUNCTION

In Salmonella typhimurium, the first five steps in purine biosynthesis also serve as the first steps in the biosynthesis of the pyrimidine moiety of thiamine (vitamin B1). strains with null mutations of the first gene of purine-thiamine synthesis (purF) can, under some circumstances, grow without thiamine. This suggests the existence of an alternative pathway to thiamine that can function without the purF protein. To demonstrate the nature and map position of the purF mutations corrected, a fine-structure genetic map of the purF gene was made. The map allows identification of deletion mutations that remove virtually all of the purF gene, as defined by mutations. We describe conditions and mutations (panR) which allow B1 synthesis to occur in deletion mutants lacking purF function. The alternative route of B1 synthesis appears to require enzymes which act subsequent to the purF enzyme in the purine pathway.