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[Connectivity between soxS gene expression and adaptive resistance to the SoxRS-regulon inducers in E. coli cells].

Development of the adaptive response (AR) to the SoxRS-inducers-menadione (O2(-.)-donor), dinitrosyl-iron complex (NO donor) and their simultaneous action was studied in E. coli. Two AR parameters were used: an increasing in viability and decreasing in the soxS gene (SoxRS-regulon) expression in adapted cells. It was shown that namely peroxynitrite (ONOO-), being formed inside the cells from O2-. and NO, was the most cytotoxic agent among the drugs tested. On the one side, an increase in resistance to menadione treatment was selectively demonstrated in adapted E. coli delta oxyR mutant cells, defective in OxyR-regulon activity. On the other side, a decrease in soxS gene expression was marked in the experiments with menadione, as well So, an AR to O2-. superoxide anion was selectively regulated by the SoxRS DNA-repair pathway. OxyR-regulon that is selectively activated by the most redox-cycling agents and controls AR to these agents doesn't provide development of the AR to O2-..

DNA Repair↗

Genetic interactions of broad host-range plasmid RK2: evidence for a complex replication regulon.

The kil and kor genes of RK2 are novel genetic determinants further that the kil and kor network constitutes a replication regulon, and that perhaps the function of this regulon is to ensure expression of trfA at appropriate levels. The complexity of this regulon may reflect an ability of the system to adapt to the intracellular environments of a variety of hosts. Indeed, there is tantalizing evidence that regions encoding kil or kor genes are important to host range (1,2,6,28; Schmidhauser and Helinski, pers. comm.). We are therefore hopeful that the study of these genes and the eventual determination of the molecular basis of their actions will lead to a complete understanding of the replication control and broad host range capability of IncP plasmids.

Bacterial Proteins↗

Cross-talk between the virulence and phosphate regulons of Agrobacterium tumefaciens caused by an unusual interaction of the transcriptional activator with a regulatory DNA element.

Transcription of a virulence gene on the hairy-root-inducing plasmid A4, which is induced by plant factors in Agrobacterium tumefaciens, was also activated by phosphate limitation in both A. tumefaciens and Escherichia coli. The starting site of RNA synthesized under the two inducing conditions was the same, and an identical promoter was responsible for both inducible expressions. The response of the virulence gene to phosphate limitation did not require the positive regulator VirG for the virulence regulon, but depended entirely on the presence of PhoB protein, the positive regulator for the phosphate regulon. The DNA signal upstream of the virulence gene, which is targeted by the VirG protein, was recognized by the E. coli PhoB protein in vitro. These results indicate that cross-talk between the two regulons occurred during the recognition of a DNA signal by the regulatory protein.

Bacterial Proteins↗

Regulation of the phosphate regulon of Escherichia coli. Activation of pstS transcription by PhoB protein in vitro.

Expression of the genes in the phosphate regulon, including the pstS (phoS) and phoB genes, is positively regulated by PhoB protein when phosphate is limited. We purified PhoB protein from overproducing cells and studied its interaction with the pstS gene. It binds specifically to the DNA fragment containing the promoter region of pstS. The transcription initiation site of the gene in vivo was identified by S1 nuclease mapping and primer-extension experiments. In-vitro transcription of pstS was activated by the PhoB protein, and the initiation site of transcription agreed with the in-vivo initiation site. Activation of in-vitro transcription by PhoB protein required both the normal sigma factor (sigma 70) and core RNA polymerase. PhoB protein binding sites on the promoter regions of pstS and phoB were determined by footprinting experiments with DNase I and a methylating agent. In both cases the protein binds to the pho box, the concensus sequence shared by regulatory regions of genes in the phosphate regulon. Our findings indicate that PhoB protein recognizes and binds to the pho box and activates transcription of the genes in the phosphate regulon.

Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins↗

Isorepressor of the gal regulon in Escherichia coli.

Inducible overexpression of the Escherichia coli gal operon in the absence of the Gal repressor is known as ultrainduction. The requirement of induction can be eliminated by mutation of a new locus, galS, resulting in constitutive and ultrainduced levels of gal expression. Characterization of the galS gene and its product has revealed an isorepressor of the gal regulon. The Gal isorepressor is a protein of 346 amino acid residues whose amino acid sequence and cellular function, as described here, are very similar to that of Gal repressor, encoded by the galR gene. Transcription from different promoters of the gal regulon, galP1, galP2 and mglP, was examined by primer extension and reverse transcription of mRNA isolated from strains containing mutations in galR and/or galS. In strains containing a galS mutation, overexpression of gal message occurred only in the presence of inducer, while mgl message was constitutively derepressed. The galS mutation also constitutively derepressed an mglA::lacZ fusion, demonstrating that GalS is the mgl repressor. A potential operator site in the mgl promoter was identified at a position analogous to OE in gal. Thus, the gal and mgl operons constitute a regulon. Crosstalk, temporal action, induction spectrum or heteromer formation between repressor and isorepressor may help co-ordinate high affinity galactose transport and galactose utilization.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

The PhoP virulence regulon and live oral Salmonella vaccines.

The PhoP virulence regulon is essential to Salmonella typhimurium mouse typhoid fever pathogenesis and survival within macrophages. This virulence regulon is composed of the PhoP (transcriptional regulator) and PhoQ (environmental sensor) proteins and the genetic loci they positively (pags for PhoP activated genes) and negatively (prgs for PhoP repressed genes) regulate. Three regulated loci pagC, pagD, and prgH, when singly mutated, affect the virulence of S. typhimurium for mice. Strains with phoP locus mutations are effective as live vaccines in mice, and strains with a constitutive regulatory mutation, a point mutation in PhoQ, can protect mice against typhoid fever when only very few organisms are administered. The addition of various PhoP regulon mutations further attenuates aroA mutants of S. typhimurium, suggesting that these mutations would be useful in further attenuating vaccine strains with metabolic pathway mutations. The phoP, phoQ, pagC, and pagD genes are highly conserved between S. typhimurium and S. typhi and may be valuable as mutations in live vaccines for human typhoid fever. A plasmid suicide vector that allows deletion of the pagC gene and stable insertion of heterologous antigen genes within the deleted pagC locus has been constructed and used successfully in S. typhimurium and S. typhi.

Administration, Oral↗

Mutations in phoB, the positive gene activator of the pho regulon in Escherichia coli, affect the carbohydrate phenotype on MacConkey indicator plates.

Mutants defective in phoB, the positive gene activator of the Escherichia coli pho regulon, exhibit aberrant behaviour on MacConkey indicator plates. They appear pale in the presence of a fermentable carbon source such as trehalose, maltose or glucose. The addition of at least 5 mM phosphate corrects this defect. Colonies of phoB+ strains turn red on MacConkey indicator plates and derepress the pho regulon when the cells are able to ferment the carbon source. In contrast, the inability to ferment the carbon source maintains the pho regulon in the repressed state.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗

Regulation of the pho regulon in Escherichia coli K-12. Genetic and physiological regulation of the positive regulatory gene phoB.

phoB is a positive regulatory gene for phoA, which codes for alkaline phosphatase, as well as for other genes belonging to the phosphate (pho) regulon whose expression is inducible by phosphate limitation in Escherichia coli. A hybrid plasmid that contains a phoB-lacZ fused gene was constructed in vitro. This plasmid enabled us to study phoB gene expression by measuring the beta-galactosidase level in the cells. The plasmid was introduced into various regulatory mutants related to the phosphate regulon, and phoB gene expression in these strains was studied under limited and excess phosphate conditions. It was found that the regulation of phoB expression was very similar to that of phoA expression. Expression of both genes was induced by phosphate starvation. Both genes were constitutively expressed in phoR, phoS, phoT and phoU mutants and were not expressed in a phoR-phoM double mutant. The implications of these findings for the regulatory mechanism of the pho regulon are discussed.

Alkaline Phosphatase↗

Characterization of group A streptococcal strains Sv and Su: determination of emm gene typing and presence of small vir regulon.

The emm gene typing of GAS (group A streptococcus) strains Sv and Su and the molecular structure of the vir regulon were decided. An emm(-like) gene from the chromosomal DNA of GAS strain Sv was amplified with forward and reverse primers, which were selected from the best conserved portion in leader sequences of different strains and the C-terminal conserved portion, respectively, for determination of the M protein gene type. Strain Sv was defined as serotype M23, because deduced N-terminal amino acid positions of the products are identical to those of the M type 23 (emml) gene derived from GAS strain M23-MEMPHIS (M serotype 23, GenBank accession number U11953). When the vir regulon of strain Sv was examined by polymerase chain reaction mapping and compared with that of GAS strain Su, they had a similar size in length. In addition, when sequencing analysis of the DNA fragment of 4791 base pairs (bp) encoding three open reading frames (orf, mga, and emm) and the upstream region of scpA from genomic DNAs of both strains was performed, the sequence of the DNA from strain Sv was, except for 1 bp (T for C at position 4124), identical to that of the DNA from strain Su. These data show that both strains possess the genes in the order of mga (virR or mry) -emm -scpA designated as the small vir regulon. The effect of the formation of alternative pathway C3 convertase of complement on the GAS strains Sv and Su was also examined. When GAS strains Sv and Su were incubated in NHS containing radiolabeled C3 in the presence of Mg-EGTA, binding of C3 to Su bacteria was dose-dependent, whereas less binding of C3 to Sv bacteria was seen. Taken together, the data suggest that M protein could be expressed on the surface of the Sv bacteria, but not on the Su bacteria.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Positive control of a global antioxidant defense regulon activated by superoxide-generating agents in Escherichia coli.

Escherichia coli responds to superoxide-generating agents by inducing approximately 40 proteins. We have identified a genetic locus, soxR (superoxide response), that positively regulates 9 of these proteins during superoxide stress. Induction under soxR control is at the transcriptional level, as shown with lac fusions to five paraquat-inducible promoters. Members of the soxR regulon include at least three proteins with demonstrable antioxidant roles: Mn-containing superoxide dismutase (which destroys superoxide radicals), endonuclease IV (which repairs radical-induced damages in DNA), and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (which produces NADPH). Induction of the soxR regulon also leads to diminished levels of the major outer membrane protein OmpF and alteration of the small-subunit ribosomal protein S6. These latter changes confer resistance to a variety of antibiotics. The soxR regulon may thus operate as an inducible defense against xenobiotics in general.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗

A reassessment of the FNR regulon and transcriptomic analysis of the effects of nitrate, nitrite, NarXL, and NarQP as Escherichia coli K12 adapts from aerobic to anaerobic growth.

The transcription factor FNR, the regulator of fumarate and nitrate reduction, regulates major changes as Escherichia coli adapts from aerobic to anaerobic growth. In an anaerobic glycerol/trimethylamine N-oxide/fumarate medium, the fnr mutant grew as well as the parental strain, E. coli K12 MG1655, enabling us to reveal the response to oxygen, nitrate, and nitrite in the absence of glucose repression or artifacts because of variations in growth rate. Hence, many of the discrepancies between previous microarray studies of the E. coli FNR regulon were resolved. The current microarray data confirmed 31 of the previously characterized FNR-regulated operons. Forty four operons not previously known to be included in the FNR regulon were activated by FNR, and a further 28 operons appeared to be repressed. For each of these operons, a match to the consensus FNR-binding site sequence was identified. The FNR regulon therefore minimally includes at least 103, and possibly as many as 115, operons. Comparison of transcripts in the parental strain and a narXL deletion mutant revealed that transcription of 51 operons is activated, directly or indirectly, by NarL, and a further 41 operons are repressed. The narP gene was also deleted from the narXL mutant to reveal the extent of regulation by phosphorylated NarP. Fourteen promoters were more active in the narP+ strain than in the mutant, and a further 37 were strongly repressed. This is the first report that NarP might function as a global repressor as well as a transcription activator. The data also revealed possible new defense mechanisms against reactive nitrogen species.

Binding Sites↗

Characterization of the operator sites of the exu regulon in Escherichia coli K-12 by operator-constitutive mutations and repressor titration.

In Escherichia coli, the exu regulon of the hexuronate system involves the three exuT, uxaCA and uxaB operons and is under the negative control of the exuR regulatory gene product. The technique developed by Casadaban, Chou and Cohen was employed to construct two plasmids containing operon fusions in which the lactose genes were fused to the uxaCA and exuT operons. These fusions were transferred into the chromosome by a reciprocal recombination event, and the resulting strains were used for isolation of mutants defective in repression. Two types of operator-constitutive mutants were obtained: one specific for the uxaCA operon expression and the other affecting the exuT gene expression. This genetic evidence confirms that these two operons which are divergently transcribed each possess their own operator site.--The derepressed expression of the two exuT-lac and uxaCA-lac operons and the uxaB gene was also examined upon introduction of plasmids bearing various operators of the exu regulon. The results of testing exuR repressor titration by multiple copies of the exu operators allowed us to show a gradation in the affinity degrees for the three exu operators: uxaBo has the strongest affinity for the exuR repressor and uxaCo the weakest, although that of exuTo seems to be just slightly greater. This gradation may play a role in the control of the exu regulon expression.

Chromosomes, Bacterial↗

Regulation of components of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa phosphate-starvation-inducible regulon in Escherichia coli.

Plasmids pPBP and pRS-XP containing the cloned genes for the Pseudomonas aeruginosa phosphate-starvation-inducible periplasmic phosphate-binding protein and outer membrane porin P (oprP), respectively, were introduced into various Escherichia coli Pho-regulon regulatory mutants. Using Western immunoblots and specific antisera, the production of both gene products was observed to be under the control of regulatory elements of the E. coli Pho regulon. Sequencing of the region upstream of the translational start site of the oprP gene revealed a 'Pho box' with strong homology to the E. coli consensus 'Pho box', the putative binding site of the PhoB activator. Since P. aeruginosa and E. coli belong to different families and have quite different GC contents, these data suggest strong evolutionary conservation of regulatory elements of the Pho regulon.

Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins↗

Mechanism of regulation of the formate-hydrogenlyase pathway by oxygen, nitrate, and pH: definition of the formate regulon.

The products of a minimum of 15 genes are required for the synthesis of an active formate-hydrogenlyase (FHL) system in Escherichia coli. All are co-ordinately regulated in response to variations in the oxygen and nitrate concentration and the pH of the culture medium. Formate is obligately required for transcriptional activation of these genes. Analysis of the transcription of one of these genes, hycB linked to the lacZ reporter gene, revealed that oxygen and nitrate repression of transcription could be relieved completely, or partially in the case of nitrate, either by the addition of formate to the medium or by increasing the copy number of the gene encoding the transcriptional activator (fhlA) of this regulon. These studies uncovered a further level of regulation in which the transcription of hycB was reduced in cells grown on glucose. This effect was most clearly seen in aerobically grown cells when formate was added externally. Addition of cAMP overcame this glucose repression, which could be shown to be mediated by the cAMP receptor protein. These results would be consistent with the transport of formate being regulated by catabolite repression. Moreover, the repression of transcription through high pH also could be partially overcome by addition of increasing concentrations of formate to the medium, again being consistent with regulation at the level of formate import and export. Taken together, all these observations indicate that it is the intracellular level of formate that determines the transcription of the genes of the formate regulon by FhlA. This represents a novel positive feedback mechanism in which the activator of a regulon induces its own synthesis in response to increases in the concentration of the catabolic substrate, and this in turn is governed by the relative affinities of FhlA and the three formate dehydrogenase isoenzymes for formate.

Anaerobiosis↗

Molecular analysis of two ScrR repressors and of a ScrR-FruR hybrid repressor for sucrose and D-fructose specific regulons from enteric bacteria.

The scr regulon of pUR400 and the chromosomally encoded scr regulon of Klebsiella pneumoniae KAY2026 are both negatively controlled by a specific repressor (ScrR). As deduced from the nucleotide sequences, both scrR genes encode polypeptides of 334 residues (85.5% identical base pairs, 91.3% identical amino acids), containing an N-terminal helix-turn-helix motif. Comparison with other regulatory proteins revealed 30.6% identical amino acids to FruR, 27.0% to Lacl and 28.1% to GalR. Six scrRs super-repressor mutations define the inducer-binding domain. The scr operator sequences were identified by in vivo titration tests of the sucrose repressor and by in vitro electrophoretic mobility shift assays. D-fructose, an intracellular product of sucrose transport and hydrolysis, and D-fructose 1-phosphate were shown to be molecular inducers of both scr regulons. An active ScrR-FruR hybrid repressor protein was constructed with the N-terminal part of the sucrose repressor of K. pneumoniae and the C-terminal part of the fructose repressor of Salmonella typhimurium LT2. Gel retardation assays showed that the hybrid protein bound to scr-specific operators, and that D-fructose 1-phosphate, the inducer for FruR, was the only inducer. In vivo, neither the operators of the fru operon nor of the pps operon, the natural targets for FruR, were recognized, but the scr operators were. These data and the data obtained from the super-repressor alleles confirm previous models on the binding of repressors of the Lacl family to their operators.

Alleles↗

Osmoregulation of the maltose regulon in Escherichia coli.

The maltose regulon consists of four operons that direct the synthesis of proteins required for the transport and metabolism of maltose and maltodextrins. Expression of the mal genes is induced by maltose and maltodextrins and is dependent on a specific positive regulator, the MalT protein, as well as on the cyclic AMP-catabolite gene activator protein complex. In the absence of an exogenous inducer, expression of the mal regulon was greatly reduced when the osmolarity of the growth medium was high; maltose-induced expression was not affected, and malTc-dependent expression was only weakly affected. Mutants lacking MalK, a cytoplasmic membrane protein required for maltose transport, expressed the remaining mal genes at a high level, presumably because an internal inducer of the mal system accumulated; this expression was also strongly repressed at high osmolarity. The repression of mal regulon expression at high osmolarity was not caused by reduced expression of the malT, envZ, or crp gene or by changes in cellular cyclic AMP levels. In strains carrying mutations in genes encoding amylomaltase (malQ), maltodextrin phosphorylase (malP), amylase (malS), or glycogen (glg), malK mutations still led to elevated expression at low osmolarity. The repression at high osmolarity no longer occurred in malQ mutants, however, provided that glycogen was present.

Amylases↗

Genes of the Escherichia coli pur regulon are negatively controlled by a repressor-operator interaction.

Fusions of lacZ were constructed to genes in each of the loci involved in de novo synthesis of IMP. The expression of each pur-lacZ fusion was determined in isogenic purR and purR+ strains. These measurements indicated 5- to 17-fold coregulation of genes purF, purHD, purC, purMN, purL, and purEK and thus confirm the existence of a pur regulon. Gene purB, which encodes an enzyme involved in synthesis of IMP and in the AMP branch of the pathway, was not regulated by purR. Each locus of the pur regulon contains a 16-base-pair conserved operator sequence that overlaps with the promoter. The purR product, purine repressor, was shown to bind specifically to each operator. Thus, binding of repressor to each operator of pur regulon genes negatively coregulates expression.

Base Sequence↗

Architecture of the vir regulons of group A streptococci parallels opacity factor phenotype and M protein class.

Group A streptococci have traditionally been categorized into two broad groups based on the presence or absence of serum opacity factor (OF). Recent studies show that these two groups vary in a number of properties in addition to the OF phenotype, including sequence variations in the constant region of the antiphagocytic M protein genes, the presence or absence of immunoglobulin G Fc receptor proteins, and the presence or absence of multiple M protein-like genes situated in a tandem array. The M protein genes (emm) in OF- streptococcal strains are known to be part of a regulon of virulence-related genes controlled by the trans-acting positive regulatory gene, virR, situated just upstream of emm. In OF+ strains, however, the region adjacent to virR is occupied by an M protein-related, type IIa immunoglobulin G Fc receptor gene (fcrA), and the relative position of emm has not been determined. To further define the vir regulon in OF+ streptococci, we used the polymerase chain reaction to show that fcrA49 is situated immediately upstream of emm49 in the OF+ type 49 strain CS101. This result shows for the first time the separate identity and genetic linkage of these two genes in the vir regulon of an OF+ group A streptococcal strain and confirms our previous hypothesis that emm49 exists as the central gene in a trio of emm-like genes. Additionally, using DNA hybridizations, we found considerable sequence divergence between OF- and OF+ group A streptococci in virR and in the noncoding sequences between virR and the emm or fcrA expression site. We found, however, a high degree of sequence conservation in this region within each of the two groups of strains.

Amino Acid Sequence↗