scholarly journals Escherichia coli RNA Polymerase Is the Target of the Cyclopeptide Antibiotic Microcin J25

2001 ◽  
Vol 183 (15) ◽  
pp. 4543-4550 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mónica A. Delgado ◽  
Marı́a R. Rintoul ◽  
Ricardo N. Farı́as ◽  
Raúl A. Salomón

ABSTRACT Escherichia coli microcin J25 (MccJ25) is a plasmid-encoded, cyclic peptide antibiotic consisting of 21 unmodified amino acid residues. It is primarily active on gram-negative bacteria related to the producer strain, inducing cell filamentation in an SOS-independent way. A mutation causing resistance to MccJ25 was isolated. Genetic analysis indicated that it resided in therpoC gene, encoding the β′ subunit of RNA polymerase, at 90 min on the E. coli genetic map. The mutation was genetically crossed on to a plasmid containing the wild-typerpoC gene. The presence of the recombinant plasmid conferred complete resistance to otherwise sensitive strains. Nucleotide sequencing of the plasmid-borne, mutant rpoCgene revealed a ACC (Thr)-to-ATC (Ile) change at codon 931, within homology block G, an evolutionarily conserved region in the large subunits of all RNA polymerases. MccJ25 decreased RNA synthesis both in vivo and in vitro. These results point to the RNA polymerase as the target of microcin action. We favor the possibility that the filamentous phenotype induced by MccJ25 results from impaired transcription of genes coding for cell division proteins. As far as we know, MccJ25 is the first peptide antibiotic shown to affect RNA polymerase.

2001 ◽  
Vol 183 (20) ◽  
pp. 6126-6134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julio E. Cabrera ◽  
Ding Jun Jin

ABSTRACT The Escherichia coli rapA gene encodes the RNA polymerase (RNAP)-associated protein RapA, which is a bacterial member of the SWI/SNF helicase-like protein family. We have studied therapA promoter and its regulation in vivo and determined the interaction between RNAP and the promoter in vitro. We have found that the expression of rapA is growth phase dependent, peaking at the early log phase. The growth phase control ofrapA is determined at least by one particular feature of the promoter: it uses CTP as the transcription-initiating nucleotide instead of a purine, which is used for most E. colipromoters. We also found that the rapA promoter is subject to growth rate regulation in vivo and that it forms intrinsic unstable initiation complexes with RNAP in vitro. Furthermore, we have shown that a GC-rich or discriminator sequence between the −10 and +1 positions of the rapA promoter is responsible for its growth rate control and the instability of its initiation complexes with RNAP.


2009 ◽  
Vol 75 (17) ◽  
pp. 5734-5738 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mar�a Fernanda Pomares ◽  
Ra�l A. Salom�n ◽  
Olga Pavlova ◽  
Konstantin Severinov ◽  
Ricardo Far�as ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Microcin J25 (MccJ25) is a 21-residue ribosomally synthesized lariat peptide antibiotic. MccJ25 is active against such food-borne disease-causing pathogens as Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., and Escherichia coli, including E. coli O157:H7 and non-O157 strains. MccJ25 is highly resistant to digestion by proteolytic enzymes present in the stomach and intestinal contents. MccJ25 would therefore remain active in the gastrointestinal tract, affecting normal intestinal microbiota, and this limits the potential use of MccJ25 as a food preservative. In the present paper, we describe a chymotrypsin-susceptible MccJ25 derivative with a mutation of Gly12 to Tyr that retained almost full antibiotic activity and efficiently inhibited the growth of pathogenic Salmonella enterica serovar Newport and Escherichia coli O157:H7 in skim milk and egg yolk. However, unlike the wild-type MccJ25, the MccJ25(G12Y) variant was inactivated by digestive enzymes both in vitro and in vivo. To our knowledge, our results represent the first example of a rational modification of a microcin aimed at increasing its potential use in food preservation.


2007 ◽  
Vol 189 (23) ◽  
pp. 8430-8436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga V. Kourennaia ◽  
Pieter L. deHaseth

ABSTRACT The heat shock sigma factor (σ32 in Escherichia coli) directs the bacterial RNA polymerase to promoters of a specific sequence to form a stable complex, competent to initiate transcription of genes whose products mitigate the effects of exposure of the cell to high temperatures. The histidine at position 107 of σ32 is at the homologous position of a tryptophan residue at position 433 of the main sigma factor of E. coli, σ70. This tryptophan is essential for the strand separation step leading to the formation of the initiation-competent RNA polymerase-promoter complex. The heat shock sigma factors of all gammaproteobacteria sequenced have a histidine at this position, while in the alpha- and deltaproteobacteria, it is a tryptophan. In vitro the alanine-for-histidine substitution at position 107 (H107A) destabilizes complexes between the GroE promoter and RNA polymerase containing σ32, implying that H107 plays a role in formation or maintenance of the strand-separated complex. In vivo, the H107A substitution in σ32 impedes recovery from heat shock (exposure to 42°C), and it also leads to overexpression at lower temperatures (30°C) of the Flu protein, which is associated with biofilm formation.


2010 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 529-539 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Stammen ◽  
Franziska Schuller ◽  
Sylvia Dietrich ◽  
Martin Gamer ◽  
Rebekka Biedendieck ◽  
...  

1975 ◽  
Vol 72 (7) ◽  
pp. 2506-2510 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Zillig ◽  
H. Fujiki ◽  
W. Blum ◽  
D. Janekovic ◽  
M. Schweiger ◽  
...  

1999 ◽  
Vol 181 (3) ◽  
pp. 893-898 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean-François Prost ◽  
Didier Nègre ◽  
Christelle Oudot ◽  
Katsuhiko Murakami ◽  
Akira Ishihama ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The icd gene of Escherichia coli, encoding isocitrate dehydrogenase, was shown to be expressed from two different promoters: the previously identified icd P1 and a newly detected second promoter, icd P2, whose expression is positively regulated by the catabolite repressor-activator protein Cra, formerly called FruR. In each case, we determined the mRNA start site by primer extension analysis of in vivo transcripts and examined the interaction of the icd control region with either RNA polymerase or Cra. We observed that (i) the Cra factor binds to and activates transcription from a site centered at position −76.5 within the icd P2 promoter region and (ii) three particular mutations in the C-terminal end of the α subunit of RNA polymerase (L262A, R265A, and N268A) considerably diminish transcription initiating from the icd P2 promoter, as shown by in vitro experiments performed in the presence of mutant RNA polymerases carrying Ala substitutions.


2008 ◽  
Vol 190 (10) ◽  
pp. 3434-3443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Umender K. Sharma ◽  
Dipankar Chatterji

ABSTRACT Anti-sigma factors Escherichia coli Rsd and bacteriophage T4 AsiA bind to the essential housekeeping sigma factor, σ70, of E. coli. Though both factors are known to interact with the C-terminal region of σ70, the physiological consequences of these interactions are very different. This study was undertaken for the purpose of deciphering the mechanisms by which E. coli Rsd and bacteriophage T4 AsiA inhibit or modulate the activity of E. coli RNA polymerase, which leads to the inhibition of E. coli cell growth to different amounts. It was found that AsiA is the more potent inhibitor of in vivo transcription and thus causes higher inhibition of E. coli cell growth. Measurements of affinity constants by surface plasmon resonance experiments showed that Rsd and AsiA bind to σ70 with similar affinity. Data obtained from in vivo and in vitro binding experiments clearly demonstrated that the major difference between AsiA and Rsd is the ability of AsiA to form a stable ternary complex with RNA polymerase. The binding patterns of AsiA and Rsd with σ70 studied by using the yeast two-hybrid system revealed that region 4 of σ70 is involved in binding to both of these anti-sigma factors; however, Rsd interacts with other regions of σ70 as well. Taken together, these results suggest that the higher inhibition of E. coli growth by AsiA expression is probably due to the ability of the AsiA protein to trap the holoenzyme RNA polymerase rather than its higher binding affinity to σ70.


2013 ◽  
Vol 57 (11) ◽  
pp. 5315-5319 ◽  
Author(s):  
Girish Mahajan ◽  
Becky Thomas ◽  
Rajashri Parab ◽  
Zarine E. Patel ◽  
Sandip Kuldharan ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTDrug resistance has become a global threat that, if not addressed, may return us to the preantibiotic era. A way to overcome the problem of growing incidence of global antibiotic resistance is to introduce compounds belonging to classes that are new to the clinic. During a screening of the marine microbial extract library for new antibiotics, one of the extracts showed promising antibacterial activity against Gram-positive organisms. Bioactivity-guided isolation and characterization of active metabolites led to the discovery of a novel thiazolyl cyclic-peptide antibiotic, PM181104. It was isolated and characterized from a marine sponge-associated actinobacterium strain of the genusKocuria(MTCC 5269). The compound exhibited a potentin vitroantibacterial activity against a broad range of Gram-positive bacteria, including methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus(MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE). The MIC values evaluated for the compound were found to be in the single-digit nanomolar range. Inin vivostudies of PM181104 in a BALB/c murine septicemia model, the compound displayed 100% effective dose (ED100) values of 2.5 and 5.0 mg/kg of body weight against MRSA and 10.0 mg/kg against VRE. In this report,in vitroandin vivostudies of PM181104 are described.


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