Suppression of the abnormal phenotype of Salmonella typhimurium rfaH mutants by mutations in the gene for transcription termination factor Rho

Mutations in the rfaH gene have previously been shown to cause premature termination of transcription of the traYZ operon of the F factor and also to prevent expression of the rfaGBIJ gene cluster of Salmonella typhimurium. In the present study, mutants were selected for their ability to restore the normal pattern of rfaGBIJ function. On the basis of this initial section, several classes of extragenic suppressor mutants were isolated that completely or partially corrected the Tra- and Rfa- phenotypes of the prototype rfaH mutant. The suppressor mutations included mutations in rho and mutations that mapped in or close to rpoBC. Other suppressor mutations were located elsewhere on the chromosome, presumably identifying other genes that play a role in the RfaH-mediated transcriptional regulation.