scholarly journals Regulation of the Bacillus subtilis ytmI Operon, Involved in Sulfur Metabolism

2005 ◽  
Vol 187 (17) ◽  
pp. 6019-6030 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Burguière ◽  
Juliette Fert ◽  
Isabelle Guillouard ◽  
Sandrine Auger ◽  
Antoine Danchin ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The YtlI regulator of Bacillus subtilis activates the transcription of the ytmI operon encoding an l-cystine ABC transporter, a riboflavin kinase, and proteins of unknown function. The expression of the ytlI gene and the ytmI operon was high with methionine and reduced with sulfate. Using deletions and site-directed mutagenesis, a cis-acting DNA sequence important for YtlI-dependent regulation was identified upstream from the −35 box of ytmI. Gel mobility shift assays confirmed that YtlI specifically interacted with this sequence. The replacement of the sulfur-regulated ytlI promoter by the xylA promoter led to constitutive expression of a ytmI′-lacZ fusion in a ytlI mutant, suggesting that the repression of ytmI expression by sulfate was mainly at the level of YtlI synthesis. We further showed that the YrzC regulator negatively controlled ytlI expression while this repressor also acted on ytmI expression via YtlI. The cascade of regulation observed in B. subtilis is conserved in Listeria spp. Both a YtlI-like regulator and a ytmI-type operon are present in Listeria spp. Indeed, the Lmo2352 protein from Listeria monocytogenes was able to replace YtlI for the activation of ytmI expression and a lmo2352′-lacZ fusion was repressed in the presence of sulfate via YrzC in B. subtilis. A common motif, AT(A/T)ATTCCTAT, was found in the promoter region of the ytlI and lmo2352 genes. Deletion of part of this motif or the introduction of point mutations in this sequence confirmed its involvement in ytlI regulation.

2009 ◽  
Vol 191 (23) ◽  
pp. 7367-7371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takashi Inaoka ◽  
Guojun Wang ◽  
Kozo Ochi

ABSTRACT Bacillus subtilis mutants with high expression of the bacilysin operon ywfBCDEFG were isolated. Comparative genome sequencing analysis revealed that all of these mutants have a mutation in the scoC gene. The disruption of scoC by genetic engineering also resulted in increased expression of ywfBCDEFG. Primer extension and gel mobility shift analyses showed that the ScoC protein binds directly to the promoter region of ywfBCDEFG. Our results indicate that the transition state regulator ScoC, together with CodY and AbrB, negatively regulates bacilysin production in B. subtilis.


2005 ◽  
Vol 187 (19) ◽  
pp. 6659-6667 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kentaro Hayashi ◽  
Taku Ohsawa ◽  
Kazuo Kobayashi ◽  
Naotake Ogasawara ◽  
Mitsuo Ogura

ABSTRACT srfA is an operon required for the synthesis of surfactin and the development of genetic competence in Bacillus subtilis. We observed that the expression of srfA is downregulated upon treatment with H2O2. Thus, we examined the involvement of several oxidative stress-responsive transcription factors in srfA expression. Our DNA microarray analysis revealed that the H2O2 stress-responsive regulator PerR is required for srfA expression. This was confirmed by lacZ fusion analysis. A ComX feeding assay and epistatic analyses revealed that the role of PerR in srfA expression is independent of other known regulators of srfA expression, namely, comQXP, rapC, and spx. Gel mobility shift and footprint assays revealed that PerR binds directly to two tandemly arranged noncanonical PerR boxes located in the upstream promoter region of srfA. A transcriptional srfA-lacZ fusion lacking both PerR boxes showed diminished and PerR-independent expression, indicating that the PerR boxes we identified function as positive cis elements for srfA transcription.


2006 ◽  
Vol 188 (7) ◽  
pp. 2578-2585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill M. Zalieckas ◽  
Lewis V. Wray ◽  
Susan H. Fisher

ABSTRACT Two Bacillus subtilis transcriptional factors, TnrA and GlnR, regulate gene expression in response to changes in nitrogen availability. These two proteins have similar amino acid sequences in their DNA binding domains and bind to DNA sites (GlnR/TnrA sites) that have the same consensus sequence. Expression of the tnrA gene was found to be activated by TnrA and repressed by GlnR. Mutational analysis demonstrated that a GlnR/TnrA site which lies immediately upstream of the −35 region of the tnrA promoter is required for regulation of tnrA expression by both GlnR and TnrA. Expression of the glnRA operon, which contains two GlnR/TnrA binding sites (glnRAo1 and glnRAo2) in its promoter region, is repressed by both GlnR and TnrA. The glnRAo2 site, which overlaps the −35 region of the glnRA promoter, was shown to be required for regulation by both GlnR and TnrA, while the glnRAo1 site which lies upstream of the −35 promoter region is only involved in GlnR-mediated regulation. Examination of TnrA binding to tnrA and glnRA promoter DNA in gel mobility shift experiments showed that TnrA bound with an equilibrium dissociation binding constant of 55 nM to the GlnR/TnrA site in the tnrA promoter region, while the affinities of TnrA for the two GlnR/TnrA sites in the glnRA promoter region were greater than 3 μM. These results demonstrate that GlnR and TnrA cross-regulate each other's expression and that there are differences in their DNA-binding specificities.


Microbiology ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 160 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Öykü İrigül-Sönmez ◽  
Türkan E. Köroğlu ◽  
Büşra Öztürk ◽  
Ákos T. Kovács ◽  
Oscar P. Kuipers ◽  
...  

The lutR gene, encoding a product resembling a GntR-family transcriptional regulator, has previously been identified as a gene required for the production of the dipeptide antibiotic bacilysin in Bacillus subtilis. To understand the broader regulatory roles of LutR in B. subtilis, we studied the genome-wide effects of a lutR null mutation by combining transcriptional profiling studies using DNA microarrays, reverse transcription quantitative PCR, lacZ fusion analyses and gel mobility shift assays. We report that 65 transcriptional units corresponding to 23 mono-cistronic units and 42 operons show altered expression levels in lutR mutant cells, as compared with lutR + wild-type cells in early stationary phase. Among these, 11 single genes and 25 operons are likely to be under direct control of LutR. The products of these genes are involved in a variety of physiological processes associated with the onset of stationary phase in B. subtilis, including degradative enzyme production, antibiotic production and resistance, carbohydrate utilization and transport, nitrogen metabolism, phosphate uptake, fatty acid and phospholipid biosynthesis, protein synthesis and translocation, cell-wall metabolism, energy production, transfer of mobile genetic elements, induction of phage-related genes, sporulation, delay of sporulation and cannibalism, and biofilm formation. Furthermore, an electrophoretic mobility shift assay performed in the presence of both SinR and LutR revealed a close overlap between the LutR and SinR targets. Our data also revealed a significant overlap with the AbrB regulon. Together, these findings reveal that LutR is part of the global complex, interconnected regulatory systems governing adaptation of bacteria to the transition from exponential growth to stationary phase.


1991 ◽  
Vol 279 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Chambert ◽  
M F Petit-Glatron

The levansucrase (sucrose:2,6-beta-D-fructan 6-beta-D-fructosyltransferase, EC 2.4.1.10) structural gene from a Bacillus subtilis mutant strain displaying a low polymerase activity was sequenced. Only one missense mutation changing Arg331 to His was responsible for this modified catalytic property. From this allele we created new mutations by directed mutagenesis, which modified the charge and polarity of site 331. Examination of the kinetics of the purified levansucrase variants revealed that transfructosylation activities are affected differently by the substitution chosen. His331→Arg completely restored the properties of the wild-type enzyme. The most striking feature of the other variants, namely Lys331, Ser331 and Leu331, was that they lost the ability of the wild-type enzyme to synthesize levan from sucrose alone. They were only capable of catalysing the first step of levan chain elongation, which is the formation of the trisaccharide ketose. The variant His331→Lys presented a higher kcat. for sucrose hydrolysis than the wild-type, and only this hydrolase activity was preserved in a solvent/water mixture in which the wild-type acted as a true polymerase. The two other substitutions reduced the efficiency of transfructosylation activities of the enzyme via the decrease of the rate of fructosyl-enzyme intermediate formation. For all variants, the sucrose affinity was slightly affected. This strong modulation of the enzyme specificities from a single amino acid substitution led us to postulate the hypothesis that bacterial levansucrases and plant fructosyltransferases involved in fructan synthesis may possess a common ancestral form.


1994 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 7046-7058
Author(s):  
Y Liu ◽  
A B Beedle ◽  
L Lin ◽  
A W Bell ◽  
R Zarnegar

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), a cytokine with multiple functions, exhibits cell-type-specific as well as cytokine- and steroid hormone-regulated expression. The HGF gene is known to be expressed predominately in mesenchymal but not in epithelial cells. In this study, we report the identification of a cell-type-specific transcriptional repressor in the promoter region of the mouse HGF gene, which is evidently responsible for the suppression of HGF expression in epithelial cells. Gel mobility shift assays and DNase I footprinting studies revealed that a 27-bp element (-16 to +11) around the transcription initiation site is responsible for the binding of a nuclear protein which is present in epithelial but not in mesenchymally derived cells. Further analysis of the binding activity of the DNA region with nuclear protein revealed that an approximately 19-bp sequence containing a unique palindromic structure (5'-AACCGACCGGTT-3') overlapped by a CAP box is essential for binding. Substitution of a single base (the contact site) within this region by site-directed mutagenesis resulted in total abrogation of the binding of the nuclear protein and a concomitant increase in the transcriptional activity of various lengths of HGF-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase fused genes when transfected into the epithelial cell line RL95-2 but not the mesenchymal cell line NIH 3T3. Southwestern (DNA-protein) analyses revealed that the nuclear protein which binds to this repressor element is a single polypeptide of approximately 70 kDa. Analysis of the nuclear extract prepared from regenerating mouse liver at various times after two-thirds partial hepatectomy by gel mobility shift assay revealed a substantial reduction (more than 75% within 3 h) in the binding of the repressor to its cognate binding site. Our results suggest that a cis-acting transcriptional repressor in the promoter region of the mouse HGF gene is involved in cell-type-specific regulation through binding to its cognate trans-acting protein which exists in epithelial cells but is absent in fibroblast cells.


1985 ◽  
Vol 5 (8) ◽  
pp. 1809-1813 ◽  
Author(s):  
R G Chipperfield ◽  
S S Jones ◽  
K M Lo ◽  
R A Weinberg

The transforming activity of naturally arising ras oncogenes results from point mutations that affect residue 12 or 61 of the encoded 21-kilodalton protein (p21). By use of site-directed mutagenesis, we showed that deletions and insertions of amino acid residues in the region of residue 12 are also effective in conferring oncogenic activity on p21. Common to these various alterations is the disruption that they create in this domain of the protein, which we propose results in the inactivation of a normal function of the protein.


1994 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 7046-7058 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y Liu ◽  
A B Beedle ◽  
L Lin ◽  
A W Bell ◽  
R Zarnegar

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), a cytokine with multiple functions, exhibits cell-type-specific as well as cytokine- and steroid hormone-regulated expression. The HGF gene is known to be expressed predominately in mesenchymal but not in epithelial cells. In this study, we report the identification of a cell-type-specific transcriptional repressor in the promoter region of the mouse HGF gene, which is evidently responsible for the suppression of HGF expression in epithelial cells. Gel mobility shift assays and DNase I footprinting studies revealed that a 27-bp element (-16 to +11) around the transcription initiation site is responsible for the binding of a nuclear protein which is present in epithelial but not in mesenchymally derived cells. Further analysis of the binding activity of the DNA region with nuclear protein revealed that an approximately 19-bp sequence containing a unique palindromic structure (5'-AACCGACCGGTT-3') overlapped by a CAP box is essential for binding. Substitution of a single base (the contact site) within this region by site-directed mutagenesis resulted in total abrogation of the binding of the nuclear protein and a concomitant increase in the transcriptional activity of various lengths of HGF-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase fused genes when transfected into the epithelial cell line RL95-2 but not the mesenchymal cell line NIH 3T3. Southwestern (DNA-protein) analyses revealed that the nuclear protein which binds to this repressor element is a single polypeptide of approximately 70 kDa. Analysis of the nuclear extract prepared from regenerating mouse liver at various times after two-thirds partial hepatectomy by gel mobility shift assay revealed a substantial reduction (more than 75% within 3 h) in the binding of the repressor to its cognate binding site. Our results suggest that a cis-acting transcriptional repressor in the promoter region of the mouse HGF gene is involved in cell-type-specific regulation through binding to its cognate trans-acting protein which exists in epithelial cells but is absent in fibroblast cells.


2009 ◽  
Vol 191 (10) ◽  
pp. 3273-3281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ji-Yun Kim ◽  
Takashi Inaoka ◽  
Kazutaka Hirooka ◽  
Hiroshi Matsuoka ◽  
Makiko Murata ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Using comparative genome sequencing analysis, we identified a novel mutation in Bacillus subtilis that confers a low level of resistance to fusidic acid. This mutation was located in the mdtR (formerly yusO) gene, which encodes a MarR-type transcriptional regulator, and conferred a low level of resistance to several antibiotics, including novobiocin, streptomycin, and actinomycin D. Transformation experiments showed that this mdtR mutation was responsible for multidrug resistance. Northern blot analysis revealed that the downstream gene mdtP (formerly yusP), which encodes a multidrug efflux transporter, is cotranscribed with mdtR as an operon. Disruption of the mdtP gene completely abolished the multidrug resistance phenotype observed in the mdtR mutant. DNase I footprinting and primer extension analyses demonstrated that the MdtR protein binds directly to the mdtRP promoter, thus leading to repression of its transcription. Moreover, gel mobility shift analysis indicated that an Arg83 → Lys or Ala67 → Thr substitution in MdtR significantly reduces binding affinity to DNA, resulting in derepression of mdtRP transcription. Low concentrations of fusidic acid induced the expression of mdtP, although the level of mdtP expression was much lower than that in the mdtR disruptant. These findings indicate that the MdtR protein is a repressor of the mdtRP operon and that the MdtP protein functions as a multidrug efflux transporter in B. subtilis.


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