Glucose- and Glucokinase-Controlled mal Gene Expression in Escherichia coli

ABSTRACTMalT is the central transcriptional activator of allmalgenes inEscherichia coli. Its activity is controlled by the inducer maltotriose. It can be inhibited by the interaction with certain proteins, and its expression can be controlled. We report here a novel aspect ofmalgene regulation: the effect of cytoplasmic glucose and glucokinase (Glk) on the activity and the expression of MalT. Amylomaltase (MalQ) is essential for the metabolism of maltose. It forms maltodextrins and glucose from maltose or maltodextrins. We found that glucose above a concentration of 0.1 mM blocked the activity of the enzyme.malQmutants when grown in the absence of maltodextrins are endogenously induced by maltotriose that is derived from the degradation of glycogen. Therefore, the fact thatglk malQ+mutants showed elevatedmalgene expression finds its explanation in the reduced ability to remove glucose from MalQ-catalyzed maltodextrin formation and is caused by a metabolically induced MalQ−phenotype. However, even in mutants lacking glycogen, Glk controls endogenous induction. We found that overexpressed Glk due to its structural similarity with Mlc, the repressor ofmalT, binds to the glucose transporter (PtsG), releasing Mlc and thus increasingmalTrepression. In addition, even in mutants lacking Mlc (and glycogen), the overexpression ofglkleads to a reduction inmalgene expression. We interpret this repression by a direct interaction of Glk with MalT concomitant with MalT inhibition. This repression was dependent on the presence of either maltodextrin phosphorylase or amylomaltase and led to the inactivation of MalT.