scholarly journals Heme Utilization in Bordetella aviumIs Regulated by RhuI, a Heme-Responsive Extracytoplasmic Function Sigma Factor

2001 ◽  
Vol 69 (11) ◽  
pp. 6951-6961 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amy E. Kirby ◽  
Daniel J. Metzger ◽  
Erin R. Murphy ◽  
Terry D. Connell

ABSTRACT Efficient utilization of heme as an iron (Fe) source byBordetella avium requires bhuR, an Fe-regulated gene which encodes an outer membrane heme receptor. Upstream of bhuR is a 507-bp open reading frame, hereby designated rhuI (for regulator of heme uptake), which codes for a 19-kDa polypeptide. Whereas the 19-kDa polypeptide had homology to a subfamily of alternative sigma factors known as the extracytoplasmic function (ECF) sigma factors, it was hypothesized thatrhuI encoded a potential in-trans regulator of the heme receptor gene in trans. Support for the model was strengthened by the identification of nucleotide sequences common to ECF sigma-dependent promoters in the region immediately upstream of bhuR. Experimental evidence for the regulatory activities of rhuI was first revealed by recombinant experiments in which overproduction of rhuIwas correlated with a dramatically increased expression of BhuR. A putative rhuI-dependent bhuR promoter was identified in the 199-bp region located proximal tobhuR. When a transcriptional fusion of the 199-bp region and a promoterless lacZ gene was introduced intoEscherichia coli, promoter activity was evident, but only when rhuI was coexpressed in the cell. Sigma competition experiments in E. colidemonstrated that rhuI conferred biological properties on the cell that were consistent with RhuI having sigma factor activity. Heme, hemoglobin, and several other heme-containing proteins were shown to be the extracellular inducers of therhuI-dependent regulatory system. Fur titration assays indicated that expression of rhuI was probably Fur dependent.

2003 ◽  
Vol 185 (4) ◽  
pp. 1261-1265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gyula Alan Rédly ◽  
Keith Poole

ABSTRACT A search of the pvd pyoverdine biosynthesis locus of Pseudomonas aeruginosa identified an open reading frame, PA2387, whose product exhibited a sequence similar to those of a number of so-called extracytoplasmic- function sigma factors responsible for siderophore-dependent expression of iron-siderophore receptors in Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas putida. Deletion of this gene, dubbed fpvI, compromised pyoverdine-dependent FpvA ferric pyoverdine receptor production and fpvA gene expression, while the cloned gene stimulated fpvA expression. A Fur-binding site was identified immediately upstream of fpvI, consistent with the observed iron-regulated expression of fpvI and fpvA.


mBio ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aisha T. Burton ◽  
Aaron DeLoughery ◽  
Gene-Wei Li ◽  
Daniel B. Kearns

ABSTRACT Laboratory strains of Bacillus subtilis encode many alternative sigma factors, each dedicated to expressing a unique regulon such as those involved in stress resistance, sporulation, and motility. The ancestral strain of B. subtilis also encodes an additional sigma factor homolog, ZpdN, not found in lab strains due to being encoded on the large, low-copy-number plasmid pBS32, which was lost during domestication. DNA damage triggers pBS32 hyperreplication and cell death in a manner that depends on ZpdN, but how ZpdN mediates these effects is unknown. Here, we show that ZpdN is a bona fide sigma factor that can direct RNA polymerase to transcribe ZpdN-dependent genes, and we rename ZpdN SigN accordingly. Rend-seq (end-enriched transcriptome sequencing) analysis was used to determine the SigN regulon on pBS32, and the 5′ ends of transcripts were used to predict the SigN consensus sequence. Finally, we characterize the regulation of SigN itself and show that it is transcribed by at least three promoters: PsigN1, a strong SigA-dependent LexA-repressed promoter; PsigN2, a weak SigA-dependent constitutive promoter; and PsigN3, a SigN-dependent promoter. Thus, in response to DNA damage SigN is derepressed and then experiences positive feedback. How cells die in a pBS32-dependent manner remains unknown, but we predict that death is the product of expressing one or more genes in the SigN regulon. IMPORTANCE Sigma factors are utilized by bacteria to control and regulate gene expression. Some sigma factors are activated during times of stress to ensure the survival of the bacterium. Here, we report the presence of a sigma factor that is encoded on a plasmid that leads to cellular death after DNA damage.


2009 ◽  
Vol 191 (8) ◽  
pp. 2541-2550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Archana Parashar ◽  
Kimberley R. Colvin ◽  
Dawn R. D. Bignell ◽  
Brenda K. Leskiw

ABSTRACT The similarity of BldG and the downstream coexpressed protein SCO3548 to anti-anti-sigma and anti-sigma factors, respectively, together with the phenotype of a bldG mutant, suggests that BldG and SCO3548 interact as part of a regulatory system to control both antibiotic production and morphological differentiation in Streptomyces coelicolor. A combination of bacterial two-hybrid, affinity purification, and far-Western analyses demonstrated that there was self-interaction of both BldG and SCO3548, as well as a direct interaction between the two proteins. Furthermore, a genetic complementation experiment demonstrated that SCO3548 antagonizes the function of BldG, similar to other anti-anti-sigma/anti-sigma factor pairs. It is therefore proposed that BldG and SCO3548 form a partner-switching pair that regulates the function of one or more sigma factors in S. coelicolor. The conservation of bldG and sco3548 in other streptomycetes demonstrates that this system is likely a key regulatory switch controlling developmental processes throughout the genus Streptomyces.


2005 ◽  
Vol 187 (20) ◽  
pp. 7062-7071 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mi-Young Hahn ◽  
Sahadevan Raman ◽  
Mauricio Anaya ◽  
Robert N. Husson

ABSTRACT Mycobacterium tuberculosis sigL encodes an extracytoplasmic function (ECF) sigma factor and is adjacent to a gene for a membrane protein (Rv0736) that contains a conserved HXXXCXXC sequence. This motif is found in anti-sigma factors that regulate several ECF sigma factors, including those that control oxidative stress responses. In this work, SigL and Rv0736 were found to be cotranscribed, and the intracellular domain of Rv0736 was shown to interact specifically with SigL, suggesting that Rv0736 may encode an anti-sigma factor of SigL. An M. tuberculosis sigL mutant was not more susceptible than the parental strain to several oxidative and nitrosative stresses, and sigL expression was not increased in response to these stresses. In vivo, sigL is expressed from a weak SigL-independent promoter and also from a second SigL-dependent promoter. To identify SigL-regulated genes, sigL was overexpressed and microarray analysis of global transcription was performed. Four small operons, sigL (Rv0735)-Rv0736, mpt53 (Rv2878c)-Rv2877c, pks10 (Rv1660)-pks7 (Rv1661), and Rv1139c-Rv1138c, were among the most highly upregulated genes in the sigL-overexpressing strain. SigL-dependent transcription start sites of these operons were mapped, and the consensus promoter sequences TGAACC in the −35 region and CGTgtc in the −10 region were identified. In vitro, purified SigL specifically initiated transcription from the promoters of sigL, mpt53, and pks10. Additional genes, including four PE_PGRS genes, appear to be regulated indirectly by SigL. In an in vivo murine infection model, the sigL mutant strain showed marked attenuation, indicating that the sigL regulon is important in M. tuberculosis pathogenesis.


Author(s):  
Brian E. Moy ◽  
J. Seshu

Sulfate Transport Anti-Sigma antagonist domains (Pfam01740) are found in all branches of life, from eubacteria to mammals, as a conserved fold encoded by highly divergent amino acid sequences. These domains are present as part of larger SLC26/SulP anion transporters, where the STAS domain is associated with transmembrane anchoring of the larger multidomain protein. Here, we focus on STAS Domain only Proteins (SDoPs) in eubacteria, initially described as part of the Bacillus subtilisRegulation of Sigma B (RSB) regulatory system. Since their description in B. subtilis, SDoPs have been described to be involved in the regulation of sigma factors, through partner-switching mechanisms in various bacteria such as: Mycobacterium. tuberculosis, Listeria. monocytogenes, Vibrio. fischeri, Bordetella bronchiseptica, among others. In addition to playing a canonical role in partner-switching with an anti-sigma factor to affect the availability of a sigma factor, several eubacterial SDoPs show additional regulatory roles compared to the original RSB system of B. subtilis. This is of great interest as these proteins are highly conserved, and often involved in altering gene expression in response to changes in environmental conditions. For many of the bacteria we will examine in this review, the ability to sense environmental changes and alter gene expression accordingly is critical for survival and colonization of susceptible hosts.


Microbiology ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 157 (5) ◽  
pp. 1263-1268 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Ferooz ◽  
Julien Lemaire ◽  
Marie Delory ◽  
Xavier De Bolle ◽  
Jean-Jacques Letesson

The genome of Brucella melitensis contains genes coding for the sigma factors RpoD, RpoN, RpoH1, RpoH2, RpoE1 and RpoE2. Previously published data show that B. melitensis is flagellated and that an rpoE1 mutant overexpresses the flagellar protein FlgE. In this study, we demonstrate that mutation of rpoE1 causes an overexpression of the flagellar genes fliF, flgE, fliC, flaF and flbT, correlating with the production of a longer filament and thereby demonstrating that RpoE1 acts as a flagellar repressor. Moreover, mutation of rpoE1 increases the promoter activity of the flagellar master regulator ftcR, suggesting that RpoE1 acts upstream of ftcR. Together, these data show that RpoE1 represses the flagellar synthesis and filament length in B. melitensis.


2010 ◽  
Vol 192 (8) ◽  
pp. 2255-2265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bénédicte Bastiat ◽  
Laurent Sauviac ◽  
Claude Bruand

ABSTRACT RpoE2 is an extracytoplasmic function (ECF) sigma factor involved in the general stress response of Sinorhizobium meliloti, the nitrogen-fixing symbiont of the legume plant alfalfa. RpoE2 orthologues are widely found among alphaproteobacteria, where they play various roles in stress resistance and/or host colonization. In this paper, we report a genetic and biochemical investigation of the mechanisms of signal transduction leading to S. meliloti RpoE2 activation in response to stress. We showed that RpoE2 activity is negatively controlled by two paralogous anti-sigma factors, RsiA1 (SMc01505) and RsiA2 (SMc04884), and that RpoE2 activation by stress requires two redundant paralogous PhyR-type response regulators, RsiB1 (SMc01504) and RsiB2 (SMc00794). RsiB1 and RsiB2 do not act at the level of rpoE2 transcription but instead interact with the anti-sigma factors, and we therefore propose that they act as anti-anti-sigma factors to relieve RpoE2 inhibition in response to stress. This model closely resembles a recently proposed model of activation of RpoE2-like sigma factors in Methylobacterium extorquens and Bradyrhizobium japonicum, but the existence of two pairs of anti- and anti-anti-sigma factors in S. meliloti adds an unexpected level of complexity, which may allow the regulatory system to integrate multiple stimuli.


2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jatin Narula ◽  
Abhinav Tiwari ◽  
Oleg A. Igoshin

SummaryDespite the central role of alternative sigma factors in bacterial stress response and virulence their regulation remains incompletely understood. Here we investigate one of the best-studied examples of alternative sigma factors: the σBnetwork that controls the general stress response ofBacillus subtilisto uncover widely relevant general design principles that describe the structure-function relationship of alternative sigma factor regulatory networks. We show that the relative stoichiometry of the synthesis rates of σB, its anti-sigma factor RsbW and the anti-anti-sigma factor RsbV plays a critical role in shaping the network behavior by forcing the σBnetwork to function as an ultrasensitive negative feedback loop. We further demonstrate how this negative feedback regulation insulates alternative sigma factor activity from competition with the housekeeping sigma factor for RNA polymerase and allows multiple stress sigma factors to function simultaneously with little competitive interference.Major Subject Areas:Computational and systems biology, Microbiology & Infectious diseaseResearch Organism:Bacillus subtilis


2007 ◽  
Vol 189 (17) ◽  
pp. 6266-6275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie D. King-Lyons ◽  
Kelsy F. Smith ◽  
Terry D. Connell

ABSTRACT Expression of the hurIR bhuRSTUV heme utilization locus in Bordetella bronchiseptica is coordinately controlled by the global iron-dependent regulator Fur and the extracytoplasmic function sigma factor HurI. Activation of HurI requires transduction of a heme-dependent signal via HurI, HurR, and BhuR, a three-component heme-dependent regulatory system. In silico searches of the B. bronchiseptica genome to identify other genes that encode additional participants in this heme-dependent regulatory cascade revealed hurP, an open reading frame encoding a polypeptide with homology to (i) RseP, a site 2 protease (S2P) of Escherichia coli required for modifying the cytoplasmic membrane protein RseA, and (ii) YaeL, an S2P of Vibrio cholerae required for modification of the cytoplasmic membrane protein TcpP. A mutant of B. bronchiseptica defective for hurP was incapable of regulating expression of BhuR in a heme-dependent manner. Furthermore, the hurP mutant was unable to utilize hemin as a sole source of nutrient Fe. These defects in hemin utilization and heme-dependent induction of BhuR were restored when recombinant hurP (or recombinant rseP) was introduced into the mutant. Introduction of hurP into a yaeL mutant of V. cholerae also complemented its S2P defect. These data provided strong evidence that protease activity and cleavage site recognition was conserved in HurP, RseP, and YaeL. The data are consistent with a model in which HurP functionally modifies HurR, a sigma factor regulator that is essential for heme-dependent induction of bhuR.


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