scholarly journals Transcriptional Pausing in the Bacillus subtilis pyr Operon In Vitro: a Role in Transcriptional Attenuation?

2003 ◽  
Vol 185 (16) ◽  
pp. 4764-4771 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hesheng Zhang ◽  
Robert L. Switzer
Keyword(s):  
Bacillus Subtilis ◽  
Rna Binding ◽  
Bacterial Species ◽  
Regulatory Protein ◽  
Stem Loop ◽  
Nucleotide Biosynthesis ◽  
Pyrimidine Nucleotide ◽  
Transcriptional Pausing

ABSTRACT The genes encoding the enzymes of pyrimidine nucleotide biosynthesis (pyr genes) are regulated in Bacillus subtilis and many other bacterial species by transcriptional attenuation. When UMP or UTP is bound to the PyrR regulatory protein, it binds to pyr mRNA at specific sequences and secondary structures in the RNA. Binding to this site prevents formation of an antiterminator stem-loop in the RNA and permits formation of a downstream terminator, leading to reduced expression of the pyr genes lying downstream from the terminator. The functioning of several other transcriptional attenuation systems has been shown to involve transcriptional pausing; this observation stimulated us to use single-round transcription of pyr genes to test for formation of paused transcripts in vitro. Using templates with each of the three known B. subtilis pyr attenuation sites, we identified one major pause site in each in which the half-life of the paused transcript was increased four- to sixfold by NusA. In each case pausing at the NusA-stimulated site prevented formation of a complete antiterminator stem-loop, while it resulted in increased time for a PyrR binding loop to form and for PyrR to bind to this loop. Thus, the pausing detected in vitro is potentially capable of playing a role in establishing the correct timing for pyr attenuation in vivo. With two of three pyr templates the combination of NusA with PyrR markedly stimulated termination of transcription at the normal termination sites. This suggests that NusA, by stabilizing pausing, plays a role in termination of pyr transcription in vivo.

scholarly journals Dissecting the Fine Details of Assembly of aT = 3 Phage Capsid

2005 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. G. Stockley ◽  
A. E. Ashcroft ◽  
S. Francese ◽  
G. S. Thompson ◽  
N. A. Ranson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rna Binding ◽  
Protein Complexes ◽  
Model Systems ◽  
Replicase Gene ◽  
Nmr Studies ◽  
Partial Explanation ◽  
Stem Loop ◽  
Assembly Pathway

The RNA bacteriophages represent ideal model systems in which to probe the detailed assembly pathway for the formation of aT = 3 quasi-equivalent capsid. For MS2, the assembly reaction can be probedin vitrousing acid disassembled coat protein subunits and a short (19 nt) RNA stem-loop that acts as the translational operator of the replicase gene and leads to sequence-specific sequestration and packaging of the cognate phage RNAin vivo. Reassembly reactions can be initiated by mixing these components at neutral pH. The molecular basis of the sequence-specific RNA–protein interaction is now well understood. Recent NMR studies on the protein demonstrate extensive mobility in the loops of the polypeptide that alter their conformations to form the quasi-equivalent conformers of the final capsid. It seems reasonable to assume that RNA binding results in reduction of this flexibility. However, mass spectrometry suggests that these RNA–protein complexes may only provide one type of quasi-equivalent capsid building block competent to form five-fold axes but not the full shell. Work with longer RNAs suggests that the RNA may actively template the assembly pathway providing a partial explanation of how conformers are selected in the growing shell.

scholarly journals Polypyrimidine tract-binding protein blocks miRNA-124 biogenesis to enforce its neuronal-specific expression in the mouse

2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (47) ◽  
pp. E11061-E11070 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyu-Hyeon Yeom ◽  
Simon Mitchell ◽  
Anthony J. Linares ◽  
Sika Zheng ◽  
Chia-Ho Lin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neuronal Differentiation ◽  
Rna Binding ◽  
Binding Protein ◽  
Embryonic Stem ◽  
Specific Expression ◽  
Stem Loop ◽  
Polypyrimidine Tract Binding Protein ◽  
Precursor Rna

MicroRNA (miRNA)-124 is expressed in neurons, where it represses genes inhibitory for neuronal differentiation, including the RNA binding protein PTBP1. PTBP1 maintains nonneuronal splicing patterns of mRNAs that switch to neuronal isoforms upon neuronal differentiation. We find that primary (pri)-miR-124-1 is expressed in mouse embryonic stem cells where mature miR-124 is absent. PTBP1 binds to this precursor RNA upstream of the miRNA stem–loop to inhibit mature miR-124 expression in vivo and DROSHA cleavage of pri-miR-124-1 in vitro. This function for PTBP1 in repressing miR-124 biogenesis defines an additional regulatory loop in the already intricate interplay between these two molecules. Applying mathematical modeling to examine the dynamics of this regulation, we find that the pool of pri-miR-124 whose maturation is blocked by PTBP1 creates a robust and self-reinforcing transition in gene expression as PTBP1 is depleted during early neuronal differentiation. While interlocking regulatory loops are often found between miRNAs and transcriptional regulators, our results indicate that miRNA targeting of posttranscriptional regulators also reinforces developmental decisions. Notably, induction of neuronal differentiation observed upon PTBP1 knockdown likely results from direct derepression of miR-124, in addition to indirect effects previously described.

scholarly journals Bacillus subtilis Aconitase Is Required for Efficient Late-Sporulation Gene Expression

2006 ◽  
Vol 188 (17) ◽  
pp. 6396-6405 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alisa W. Serio ◽  
Kieran B. Pechter ◽  
Abraham L. Sonenshein
Keyword(s):  
Bacillus Subtilis ◽  
Transcriptional Activation ◽  
Rna Binding ◽  
Regulatory Protein ◽  
Binding Activity ◽  
High Catalytic Activity ◽  
Spore Coat ◽  
Mobility Shift ◽  
Gel Mobility Shift

ABSTRACT Bacillus subtilis aconitase, encoded by the citB gene, is homologous to the bifunctional eukaryotic protein IRP-1 (iron regulatory protein 1). Like IRP-1, B. subtilis aconitase is both an enzyme and an RNA binding protein. In an attempt to separate the two activities of aconitase, the C-terminal region of the B. subtilis citB gene product was mutagenized. The resulting strain had high catalytic activity but was defective in sporulation. The defect was at a late stage of sporulation, specifically affecting expression of σK-dependent genes, many of which are important for spore coat assembly and require transcriptional activation by GerE. Accumulation of gerE mRNA and GerE protein was delayed in the aconitase mutant strain. Pure B. subtilis aconitase bound to the 3′ untranslated region of gerE mRNA in in vitro gel mobility shift assays, strongly suggesting that aconitase RNA binding activity may stabilize gerE mRNA in order to allow efficient GerE synthesis and proper timing of spore coat assembly.

scholarly journals Drosophila Stem-Loop Binding Protein Intracellular Localization Is Mediated by Phosphorylation and Is Required for Cell Cycle-regulated Histone mRNA Expression

2004 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 1112-1123 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Lanzotti ◽  
Jeremy M. Kupsco ◽  
Xiao-Cui Yang ◽  
Zbigniew Dominski ◽  
William F. Marzluff ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Cycle ◽  
Rna Binding ◽  
Binding Protein ◽  
Intracellular Localization ◽  
Mrna Processing ◽  
Nuclear Targeting ◽  
Histone Mrna ◽  
Stem Loop

Stem-loop binding protein (SLBP) is an essential component of the histone pre-mRNA processing machinery. SLBP protein expression was examined during Drosophila development by using transgenes expressing hemagglutinin (HA) epitope-tagged proteins expressed from the endogenous Slbp promoter. Full-length HA-dSLBP complemented a Slbp null mutation, demonstrating that it was fully functional. dSLBP protein accumulates throughout the cell cycle, in contrast to the observed restriction of mammalian SLBP to S phase. dSLBP is located in both nucleus and cytoplasm in replicating cells, but it becomes predominantly nuclear during G2. dSLBP is present in mitotic cells and is down-regulated in G1 when cells exit the cell cycle. We determined whether mutation at previously identified phosphorylation sites, T120 and T230, affected the ability of the protein to restore viability and histone mRNA processing to dSLBP null mutants. The T120A SLBP restored viability and histone pre-mRNA processing. However, the T230A mutant, located in a conserved TPNK sequence in the RNA binding domain, did not restore viability and histone mRNA processing in vivo, although it had full activity in histone mRNA processing in vitro. The T230A protein is concentrated in the cytoplasm, suggesting that it is defective in nuclear targeting, and accounting for its failure to function in histone pre-mRNA processing in vivo.

scholarly journals Regulation of the Tryptophan Biosynthetic Genes in Bacillus halodurans: Common Elements but Different Strategies than Those Used by Bacillus subtilis

2004 ◽  
Vol 186 (3) ◽  
pp. 818-828 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reka Szigeti ◽  
Mirela Milescu ◽  
Paul Gollnick
Keyword(s):  
Bacillus Subtilis ◽  
Rna Binding ◽  
Bacillus Halodurans ◽  
Common Elements ◽  
Biosynthetic Genes ◽  
Alkaline Environments ◽  
Attenuation Mechanism ◽  
Mechanisms Of Adaptation

ABSTRACT In Bacillus subtilis, an RNA binding protein called TRAP regulates both transcription and translation of the tryptophan biosynthetic genes. Bacillus halodurans is an alkaliphilic Bacillus species that grows at high pHs. Previous studies of this bacterium have focused on mechanisms of adaptation for growth in alkaline environments. We have characterized the regulation of the tryptophan biosynthetic genes in B. halodurans and compared it to that in B. subtilis. B. halodurans encodes a TRAP protein with 71% sequence identity to the B. subtilis protein. Expression of anthranilate synthetase, the first enzyme in the pathway to tryptophan, is regulated significantly less in B. halodurans than in B. subtilis. Examination of the control of the B. halodurans trpEDCFBA operon both in vivo and in vitro shows that only transcription is regulated, whereas in B. subtilis both transcription of the operon and translation of trpE are controlled. The attenuation mechanism that controls transcription in B. halodurans is similar to that in B. subtilis, but there are some differences in the predicted RNA secondary structures in the B. halodurans trp leader region, including the presence of a potential anti-antiterminator structure. Translation of trpG, which is within the folate operon in both bacilli, is regulated similarly in the two species.

scholarly journals Multimerization of human cytomegalovirus regulatory protein UL69 via a domain that is conserved within its herpesvirus homologues

2007 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 405-410 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Lischka ◽  
Marco Thomas ◽  
Zsolt Toth ◽  
Regina Mueller ◽  
Thomas Stamminger
Keyword(s):  
Human Cytomegalovirus ◽  
Nuclear Export ◽  
Rna Binding ◽  
Regulatory Protein ◽  
Transcriptional Level ◽  
Homologous Proteins ◽  
Interaction Domain ◽  
Self Association

The UL69 protein of human cytomegalovirus is a multifunctional regulatory protein that has counterparts in all herpesviruses. Some of these proteins have been shown to function primarily at the post-transcriptional level in promoting nuclear export of viral transcripts. Consistently, this group has reported recently that pUL69 is an RNA-binding, nucleocytoplasmic shuttling protein that facilitates the cytoplasmic accumulation of unspliced mRNA via its interaction with the cellular mRNA export factor UAP56. Evidence has been presented to suggest that some of the pUL69 homologues self-interact and function in vivo as multimers. Herein, the possibility of pUL69 self-association was examined and it has been demonstrated that pUL69 can interact with itself in vitro and in vivo in order to form high-molecular-mass complexes. The self-interaction domain within pUL69 was mapped to a central domain of this viral protein that is conserved within the homologous proteins of other herpesviruses, suggesting that multimerization is a conserved feature of this protein family.

scholarly journals Regulators of the Bacillus subtilis cydABCD Operon: Identification of a Negative Regulator, CcpA, and a Positive Regulator, ResD

2007 ◽  
Vol 189 (9) ◽  
pp. 3348-3358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ankita Puri-Taneja ◽  
Matthew Schau ◽  
Yinghua Chen ◽  
F. Marion Hulett
Keyword(s):  
Bacillus Subtilis ◽  
Response Regulator ◽  
Regulatory Protein ◽  
Negative Regulator ◽  
Regulatory Proteins ◽  
Regulation Of Respiration ◽  
Regulator Protein ◽  
Promoter Fusion

ABSTRACT The cydABCD operon of Bacillus subtilis encodes products required for the production of cytochrome bd oxidase. Previous work has shown that one regulatory protein, YdiH (Rex), is involved in the repression of this operon. The work reported here confirms the role of Rex in the negative regulation of the cydABCD operon. Two additional regulatory proteins for the cydABCD operon were identified, namely, ResD, a response regulator involved in the regulation of respiration genes, and CcpA, the carbon catabolite regulator protein. ResD, but not ResE, was required for full expression of the cydA promoter in vivo. ResD binding to the cydA promoter between positions −58 and −107, a region which includes ResD consensus binding sequences, was not enhanced by phosphorylation. A ccpA mutant had increased expression from the full-length cydA promoter during stationary growth compared to the wild-type strain. Maximal expression in a ccpA mutant was observed from a 3′-deleted cydA promoter fusion that lacked the Rex binding region, suggesting that the effect of the two repressors, Rex and CcpA, was cumulative. CcpA binds directly to the cydA promoter, protecting the region from positions −4 to −33, which contains sequences similar to the CcpA consensus binding sequence, the cre box. CcpA binding was enhanced upon addition of glucose-6-phosphate, a putative cofactor for CcpA. Mutation of a conserved residue in the cre box reduced CcpA binding 10-fold in vitro and increased cydA expression in vivo. Thus, CcpA and ResD, along with the previously identified cydA regulator Rex (YdiH), affect the expression of the cydABCD operon. Low-level induction of the cydA promoter was observed in vivo in the absence of its regulatory proteins, Rex, CcpA, and ResD. This complex regulation suggests that the cydA promoter is tightly regulated to allow its expression only at the appropriate time and under the appropriate conditions.

scholarly journals Leigh Syndrome-inducing Mutations Affect LRPPRC / SLIRP Complex Formation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandrine Coquille ◽  
Stéphane Thore
Keyword(s):  
Complex Formation ◽  
Rna Binding ◽  
Leigh Syndrome ◽  
Stable Complex ◽  
Specific Gene ◽  
Functional Domain ◽  
Independent Manner ◽  
Stem Loop

ABSTRACTMitochondria are essential organelles carrying their own genetic information which require specific gene expression processes. The leucine rich pentatricopeptide protein (LRPPRC) and its partner the SRA stem-loop interacting RNA binding protein (SLIRP) form a stable complex implicated in mRNA stability and polyadenylation. LRPPRC/SLIRP complex formation is still poorly characterized. We demonstrate that SLIRP interacts with the N-terminal region of LRPPRC in a RNA independent manner. We further show that the complex is stable in presence of high salt concentration. Point mutation and deletions found in the LRPPRC protein and responsible for the French-Canadian Leigh Syndrome (LSFC) are shown to affect complex formation in vitro. Our data are identifying the key region of LRPPRC involved in SLIRP association and showing the direct consequence of various LSFC mutations on the complex formation. Further experiments aiming at deciphering LRPPRC/SLIRP function(s) in vivo will benefit from our functional domain characterization.

scholarly journals Regulation of therhaEWRBMAOperon Involved in l-Rhamnose Catabolism through Two Transcriptional Factors, RhaR and CcpA, in Bacillus subtilis

2015 ◽  
Vol 198 (5) ◽  
pp. 830-845 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazutake Hirooka ◽  
Yusuke Kodoi ◽  
Takenori Satomura ◽  
Yasutaro Fujita
Keyword(s):  
Bacillus Subtilis ◽  
Plant Pathogens ◽  
Bacterial Species ◽  
Regulatory Region ◽  
Regulatory System ◽  
Direct Repeat ◽  
Plant Interactions ◽  
Content Type

ABSTRACTTheBacillus subtilisrhaEWRBMA(formerlyyuxG-yulBCDE) operon consists of four genes encoding enzymes forl-rhamnose catabolism and therhaRgene encoding a DeoR-type transcriptional regulator. DNase I footprinting analysis showed that the RhaR protein specifically binds to the regulatory region upstream of therhaEWgene, in which two imperfect direct repeats are included. Gel retardation analysis revealed that the direct repeat farther upstream is essential for the high-affinity binding of RhaR and that the DNA binding of RhaR was effectively inhibited byl-rhamnulose-1-phosphate, an intermediate ofl-rhamnose catabolism. Moreover, it was demonstrated that the CcpA/P-Ser-HPr complex, primarily governing the carbon catabolite control inB. subtilis, binds to the catabolite-responsive element, which overlaps the RhaR binding site.In vivoanalysis of therhaEWpromoter-lacZfusion in the background ofccpAdeletion showed that thel-rhamnose-responsive induction of therhaEWpromoter was negated by the disruption ofrhaAorrhaBbut notrhaEWorrhaM, whereasrhaRdisruption resulted in constitutiverhaEWpromoter activity. Thesein vitroandin vivoresults clearly indicate that RhaR represses the operon by binding to the operator site, which is detached byl-rhamnulose-1-phosphate formed froml-rhamnose through a sequence of isomerization by RhaA and phosphorylation by RhaB, leading to the derepression of the operon. In addition, thelacZreporter analysis using the strains with or without theccpAdeletion under the background ofrhaRdisruption supported the involvement of CcpA in the carbon catabolite repression of the operon.IMPORTANCESincel-rhamnose is a component of various plant-derived compounds, it is a potential carbon source for plant-associating bacteria. Moreover, it is suggested thatl-rhamnose catabolism plays a significant role in some bacteria-plant interactions, e.g., invasion of plant pathogens and nodulation of rhizobia. Despite the physiological importance ofl-rhamnose catabolism for various bacterial species, the transcriptional regulation of the relevant genes has been poorly understood, except for the regulatory system ofEscherichia coli. In this study, we show that, inBacillus subtilis, one of the plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria, therhaEWRBMAoperon forl-rhamnose catabolism is controlled by RhaR and CcpA. This regulatory system can be another standard model for better understanding the regulatory mechanisms ofl-rhamnose catabolism in other bacterial species.

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