scholarly journals Fnr-, NarP- and NarL-Dependent Regulation of Transcription Initiation from the Haemophilus influenzae Rd napF (Periplasmic Nitrate Reductase) Promoter in Escherichia coli K-12

2005 ◽  
Vol 187 (20) ◽  
pp. 6928-6935 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valley Stewart ◽  
Peggy J. Bledsoe

ABSTRACT Periplasmic nitrate reductase (napFDAGHBC operon product) functions in anaerobic respiration. Transcription initiation from the Escherichia coli napF operon control region is activated by the Fnr protein in response to anaerobiosis and by the NarQ-NarP two-component regulatory system in response to nitrate or nitrite. The binding sites for the Fnr and phospho-NarP proteins are centered at positions −64.5 and −44.5, respectively, with respect to the major transcription initiation point. The E. coli napF operon is a rare example of a class I Fnr-activated transcriptional control region, in which the Fnr protein binding site is located upstream of position −60. To broaden our understanding of napF operon transcriptional control, we studied the Haemophilus influenzae Rd napF operon control region, expressed as a napF-lacZ operon fusion in the surrogate host E. coli. Mutational analysis demonstrated that expression required binding sites for the Fnr and phospho-NarP proteins centered at positions −81.5 and −42.5, respectively. Transcription from the E. coli napF operon control region is activated by phospho-NarP but antagonized by the orthologous protein, phospho-NarL. By contrast, expression from the H. influenzae napF-lacZ operon fusion in E. coli was stimulated equally well by nitrate in both narP and narL null mutants, indicating that phospho-NarL and -NarP are equally effective regulators of this promoter. Overall, the H. influenzae napF operon control region provides a relatively simple model for studying synergistic transcription by the Fnr and phospho-NarP proteins acting from class I and class II locations, respectively.

2003 ◽  
Vol 185 (19) ◽  
pp. 5862-5870 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valley Stewart ◽  
Peggy J. Bledsoe ◽  
Stanly B. Williams

ABSTRACT Escherichia coli elaborates a flexible respiratory metabolism, involving differential synthesis of isoenzymes for many oxidation and reduction reactions. Periplasmic nitrate reductase, encoded by the napFDAGHBC operon, functions with concentrations of nitrate that are too low to support respiration by membrane-bound nitrate reductase. The napF operon control region exhibits unusual organization of DNA binding sites for the transcription regulators Fnr and NarP, which activate transcription in response to anaerobiosis and nitrate, respectively. Previous studies have shown that the napF operon control region directs synthesis of two transcripts whose 5′ ends differ by about 3 nucleotides. We constructed mutant control regions in which either of the two promoter −10 regions is inactivated. Results indicate that the downstream promoter (P1) was responsible for Fnr- and NarP-regulated napF operon expression, whereas transcription from the upstream promoter (P2) was activated only weakly by the Fnr protein and was inhibited by phospho-NarP and -NarL proteins. The physiological function of promoter P2 is unknown. These results establish the unconventional napF operon control region architecture, in which the major promoter P1 is activated by the Fnr protein bound to a site centered at −64.5 with respect to the transcription initiation site, working in conjunction with the phospho-NarP protein bound to a site centered at −44.5.


2003 ◽  
Vol 185 (16) ◽  
pp. 4734-4747 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Overton ◽  
Eleanor G. F. Reid ◽  
Robin Foxall ◽  
Harry Smith ◽  
Stephen J. W. Busby ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The Neisseria gonorrhoeae genome encodes a homologue of the Escherichia coli FNR protein (the fumarate and nitrate reductase regulator). Despite its similarity to E. coli FNR, the gonococcal FNR only partially complemented an E. coli fnr mutation. After error-prone PCR mutagenesis of the gonococcal fnr gene, we identified four mutant fnr derivatives carrying the same S18F substitution, and we showed that the mutant FNR could activate transcription from a range of class I and class II FNR-dependent promoters in E. coli. Prompted by the similarities between gonococcal and E. coli FNR, we made changes in gonococcal fnr that created substitutions that are equivalent to previously characterized substitutions in E. coli FNR. First, our experiments showed that cysteine, C116, in the gonococcal FNR, equivalent to C122 in E. coli FNR, is essential, presumably because, as in E. coli FNR, it binds to an iron-sulfur center. Second, the L22H and D148A substitutions in gonococcal FNR were made. These changes are equivalent to the L28H and D154A changes in E. coli FNR, which had been shown to increase FNR activity in the presence of oxygen. We show that the effects of these substitutions in gonococcal FNR are distinct from those of the S18F substitution. Similarly, substitutions in the putative activating regions of gonococcal FNR were made. We show that the activity of gonococcal FNR in E. coli can be increased by transplanting certain activating regions from E. coli FNR. The effects of these substitutions are additive to those due to S18F. From these data, we conclude that the effects of the S18F substitution in gonococcal FNR are distinct from the effects of the other substitutions. S18 is immediately adjacent to one of three N-terminal cysteine residues that coordinate the iron-sulfur center, and thus the S18F substitution is most likely to stabilize this center. Support for this came from complementary experiments in which we created the S24F substitution in E. coli FNR, which is equivalent to the S18F substitution in gonococcal FNR. Our results show that the S24F substitution changes the activity of E. coli FNR and that the changes are distinct from those due to previously characterized substitutions.


Genetics ◽  
1990 ◽  
Vol 125 (4) ◽  
pp. 691-702 ◽  
Author(s):  
B L Berg ◽  
V Stewart

Abstract Formate oxidation coupled to nitrate reduction constitutes a major anaerobic respiratory pathway in Escherichia coli. This respiratory chain consists of formate dehydrogenase-N, quinone, and nitrate reductase. We have isolated a recombinant DNA clone that likely contains the structural genes, fdnGHI, for the three subunits of formate dehydrogenase-N. The fdnGHI clone produced proteins of 110, 32 and 20 kDa which correspond to the subunit sizes of purified formate dehydrogenase-N. Our analysis indicates that fdnGHI is organized as an operon. We mapped the fdn operon to 32 min on the E. coli genetic map, close to the genes for cryptic nitrate reductase (encoded by the narZ operon). Expression of phi(fdnG-lacZ) operon fusions was induced by anaerobiosis and nitrate. This induction required fnr+ and narL+, two regulatory genes whose products are also required for the anaerobic, nitrate-inducible activation of the nitrate reductase structural gene operon, narGHJI. We conclude that regulation of fdnGHI and narGHJI expression is mediated through common pathways.


1999 ◽  
Vol 337 (3) ◽  
pp. 415-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emma C. LAW ◽  
Nigel J. SAVERY ◽  
Stephen J. W. BUSBY

The Escherichia coli cAMP receptor protein (CRP) is a factor that activates transcription at over 100 target promoters. At Class I CRP-dependent promoters, CRP binds immediately upstream of RNA polymerase and activates transcription by making direct contacts with the C-terminal domain of the RNA polymerase α subunit (αCTD). Since αCTD is also known to interact with DNA sequence elements (known as UP elements), we have constructed a series of semi-synthetic Class I CRP-dependent promoters, carrying both a consensus DNA-binding site for CRP and a UP element at different positions. We previously showed that, at these promoters, the CRP–αCTD interaction and the CRP–UP element interaction contribute independently and additively to transcription initiation. In this study, we show that the two halves of the UP element can function independently, and that, in the presence of the UP element, the best location for the DNA site for CRP is position -69.5. This suggests that, at Class I CRP-dependent promoters where the DNA site for CRP is located at position -61.5, the two αCTDs of RNA polymerase are not optimally positioned. Two experiments to test this hypothesis are presented.


1973 ◽  
Vol 137 (4) ◽  
pp. 1009-1023 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathaniel F. Pierce

Natural cholera toxoid appears to act as a competitive inhibitor of cholera enterotoxin and is thus a useful tool for studying the interaction of cholera enterotoxin with cell membranes. Cholera enterotoxin binds to gut mucosa more rapidly than does its natural toxoid. Once binding occurs, however, it appears to be prolonged for both materials. Formalinized cholera toxoid has no inhibitory effect upon cholera enterotoxin. Enterotoxic activity, ability to bind to gut mucosa, and antitoxigenicity appear to be independent properties of cholera enterotoxin. Natural cholera toxoid does not inhibit Escherichia coli enterotoxin, indicating that although the two enterotoxins activate the same mucosal secretory mechanism they occupy different binding sites in the mucosa. Ganglioside, which may be the mucosal receptor of cholera enterotoxin, is highly efficient in deactivating cholera enterotoxin. By contrast, ganglioside is relatively inefficient in deactivating heat-labile E. coli enterotoxin and is without effect upon the heat-stable component of E. coli enterotoxin. These findings suggest that ganglioside is not likely to be the mucosal receptor for E. coli enterotoxin. Differences in cellular binding of E. coli and cholera enterotoxins may explain, at least in part, the marked differences in the time of onset and duration of their effects upon gut secretion.


1973 ◽  
Vol 131 (4) ◽  
pp. 833-841 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald Stribling ◽  
Richard N. Perham

Two fructose diphosphate aldolases (EC 4.1.2.13) were detected in extracts of Escherichia coli (Crookes' strain) grown on pyruvate or lactate. The two enzymes can be resolved by chromatography on DEAE-cellulose at pH7.5, or by gel filtration on Sephadex G-200, and both have been obtained in a pure state. One is a typical bacterial aldolase (class II) in that it is strongly inhibited by metal-chelating agents and is reactivated by bivalent metal ions, e.g. Ca2+, Zn2+. It is a dimer with a molecular weight of approx. 70000, and the Km value for fructose diphosphate is about 0.85mm. The other aldolase is not dependent on metal ions for its activity, but is inhibited by reduction with NaBH4 in the presence of substrate. The Km value for fructose diphosphate is about 20μm (although the Lineweaver–Burk plot is not linear) and the enzyme is probably a tetramer with molecular weight approx. 140000. It has been crystallized. On the basis of these properties it is tentatively assigned to class I. The appearance of a class I aldolase in bacteria was unexpected, and its synthesis in E. coli is apparently favoured by conditions of gluconeogenesis. Only aldolase of class II was found in E. coli that had been grown on glucose. The significance of these results for the evolution of fructose diphosphate aldolases is briefly discussed.


2011 ◽  
Vol 79 (10) ◽  
pp. 4218-4226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shari A. Jones ◽  
Terri Gibson ◽  
Rosalie C. Maltby ◽  
Fatema Z. Chowdhury ◽  
Valley Stewart ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTThe intestine is inhabited by a large microbial community consisting primarily of anaerobes and, to a lesser extent, facultative anaerobes, such asEscherichia coli, which we have shown requires aerobic respiration to compete successfully in the mouse intestine (S. A. Jones et al., Infect. Immun. 75:4891-4899, 2007). If facultative anaerobes efficiently lower oxygen availability in the intestine, then their sustained growth must also depend on anaerobic metabolism. In support of this idea, mutants lacking nitrate reductase or fumarate reductase have extreme colonization defects. Here, we further explore the role of anaerobic respiration in colonization using the streptomycin-treated mouse model. We found that respiratory electron flow is primarily via the naphthoquinones, which pass electrons to cytochromebdoxidase and the anaerobic terminal reductases. We found thatE. coliuses nitrate and fumarate in the intestine, but not nitrite, dimethyl sulfoxide, or trimethylamineN-oxide. Competitive colonizations revealed that cytochromebdoxidase is more advantageous than nitrate reductase or fumarate reductase. Strains lacking nitrate reductase outcompeted fumarate reductase mutants once the nitrate concentration in cecal mucus reached submillimolar levels, indicating that fumarate is the more important anaerobic electron acceptor in the intestine because nitrate is limiting. Since nitrate is highest in the absence ofE. coli, we conclude thatE. coliis the only bacterium in the streptomycin-treated mouse large intestine that respires nitrate. Lastly, we demonstrated that a mutant lacking the NarXL regulator (activator of the NarG system), but not a mutant lacking the NarP-NarQ regulator, has a colonization defect, consistent with the advantage provided by NarG. The emerging picture is one in which gene regulation is tuned to balance expression of the terminal reductases thatE. coliuses to maximize its competitiveness and achieve the highest possible population in the intestine.


1991 ◽  
Vol 275 (1) ◽  
pp. 151-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Kusche ◽  
H H Hannesson ◽  
U Lindahl

A capsular polysaccharide from Escherichia coli K5 was previously found to have the same structure, [-(4)beta GlcA(1)→(4)alpha GlcNAc(1)-]n, as that of the non-sulphated precursor polysaccharide in heparin biosynthesis [Vann, Schmidt, Jann & Jann (1981) Eur. J. Biochem. 116, 359-364]. The K5 polysaccharide was N-deacetylated (by hydrazinolysis) and N-sulphated, and was then incubated with detergent-solubilized enzymes from a heparin-producing mouse mastocytoma, in the presence of adenosine 3′-phosphate 5′-phospho[35S] sulphate ([35S]PAPS). Structural analysis of the resulting 35S-labelled polysaccharide revealed the formation of all the major disaccharide units found in heparin. The identification of 2-O-[35S]sulphated IdoA (L-iduronic acid) as well as 6-O-[35S]sulphated GlcNSO3 units demonstrated that the modified K5 polysaccharide served as a substrate in the hexuronosyl C-5-epimerase and the major O-sulphotransferase reactions involved in the biosynthesis of heparin. The GlcA units of the native (N-acetylated) E. coli polysaccharide were attacked by the epimerase only when PAPS was present in the incubations, whereas those of the chemically N-sulphated polysaccharide were epimerized also in the absence of PAPS, in accord with the notion that N-sulphate groups are required for epimerization. With increasing concentrations of PAPS, the mono-O-sulphated disaccharide unit-IdoA(2-OSO3)-GlcNSO3- was progressively converted into the di-O-sulphated species -IdoA(2-OSO3)-GlcNSO3(6-OSO3)-. A small proportion of the 35S-labelled polysaccharide was found to bind with high affinity to the proteinase inhibitor antithrombin. This proportion increased with increasing concentration of PAPS up to a level corresponding to approximately 1-2% of the total incorporated 35S. The solubilized enzymes thus catalysed all the reactions required for the generation of functional antithrombin-binding sites.


2007 ◽  
Vol 190 (4) ◽  
pp. 1284-1289 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Lee ◽  
Stephen J. W. Busby ◽  
Lars F. Westblade ◽  
Brian T. Chait

ABSTRACT Bacteria contain a single multisubunit RNA polymerase that is responsible for the synthesis of all RNA. Previous studies of the Escherichia coli K-12 laboratory strain identified a group of effector proteins that interact directly with RNA polymerase to modulate the efficiency of transcription initiation, elongation, or termination. Here we used a rapid affinity isolation technique to isolate RNA polymerase from the pathogenic Escherichia coli strain O157:H7 Sakai. We analyzed the RNA polymerase enzyme complex using mass spectrometry and identified associated proteins. Although E. coli O157:H7 Sakai contains more than 1,600 genes not present in the K-12 strain, many of which are predicted to be involved in transcription regulation, all of the identified proteins in this study were encoded on the “core” E. coli genome.


1998 ◽  
Vol 334 (2) ◽  
pp. 355-365 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sutipa TANAPONGPIPAT ◽  
Eleanor REID ◽  
Jeffrey A. COLE ◽  
Helen CROOKE

The eight ccm genes located at minute 47 on the Escherichia coli chromosome, in the order ccmABCDEFGH, encode homologues of proteins which are essential for cytochrome c assembly in other bacteria. The ccm genes are immediately downstream from the napFDAGHBC genes encoding a periplasmic nitrate reductase. CcmH was previously shown to be essential for cytochrome c assembly. Deletion analysis and a two-plasmid strategy have now been used to demonstrate that CcmA, B, D, E, F and G are also essential for cytochrome c assembly, and hence for cytochrome-c-dependent nitrite reduction. The ccm genes are transcribed from a ccmA promoter located within the adjacent gene, napC, which is the structural gene for a 24 kDa membrane-bound c-type cytochrome, NapC. Transcription from this ccmA promoter is induced approximately 5-fold during anaerobic growth, independently of a functional Fnr protein: it is also not regulated by the ArcB–ArcA two-component regulatory system. The ccmA promoter is an example of the ‘extended -10 sequence ’ group of promoters with a TGX motif immediately upstream of the -10 sequence. Mutagenesis of the TG motif to TC, CT or CC resulted in loss of about 50% of the promoter activity. A weak second promoter is suggested to permit transcription of the downstream ccmEFGH genes in the absence of transcription readthrough from the upstream napF and ccmA promoters. The results are consistent with, but do not prove, the current view that CcmA, B, C and D are part of an essential haem transport mechanism, that CcmE, F and H are required for covalent haem attachment to cysteine-histidine motifs in cytochrome c apoproteins in the periplasm, and that CcmG is required for the reduction of cysteine residues on apocytochromes c in preparation for haem ligation.


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