Transcriptional regulation of the iron-responsive sigma factor gene pbrA

Metal-responsive RNA polymerase extracytoplasmic function (ECF) sigma factors

In order to survive, bacteria must adapt to multiple fluctuations in their environment, including coping with changes in metal concentrations. Many metals are essential for viability, since they act as cofactors of indispensable enzymes. But on the other hand, they are potentially toxic because they generate reactive oxygen species or displace other metals from proteins, turning them inactive. This dual effect of metals forces cells to maintain homeostasis using a variety of systems to import and export them. These systems are usually inducible, and their expression is regulated by metal sensors and signal‐transduction mechanisms, one of which is mediated by extracytoplasmic function (ECF) sigma factors. In this review, we have focused on the metal‐responsive ECF sigma factors, several of which are activated by iron depletion (FecI, FpvI and PvdS), while others are activated by excess of metals such as nickel and cobalt (CnrH), copper (CarQ and CorE) or cadmium and zinc (CorE2). We focus particularly on their physiological roles, mechanisms of action and signal transduction pathways.

Analysis of the ferric citrate transport gene promoter of Escherichia coli

FecI, an extracytoplasmic-function sigma factor, is required for initiation of transcription of the ferric citrate transport genes. A mutational analysis of the fecA promoter revealed that the nonconserved -10 region and a downstream regulatory element are important for fecA promoter activity. However, nucleotide substitutions in the well-conserved -35 region also have an effect on the fecA promoter activity. Titration of FecI suggests that the FecI-RNA polymerase holoenzyme does not bind strongly to the downstream regulatory element, which is therefore probably involved in a subsequent step of transcription initiation.

Pseudomonas fluorescens encodes the Crohn's disease-associated I2 sequence and T-cell superantigen

Commensal bacteria have emerged as an important disease factor in human Crohn's disease (CD) and murine inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) models. We recently isolated I2, a novel gene segment of microbial origin that is associated with human CD and that encodes a T-cell superantigen. To identify the I2 microorganism, BLAST analysis was used to identify a microbial homologue, PA2885, a novel open reading frame (ORF) in the Pseudomonas aeruginosa genome. PCR and Southern analysis identified Pseudomonas fluorescens as the originating species of I2, with homologues detectable in 3 of 13 other Pseudomonas species. Genomic cloning disclosed a locus containing the full-length I2 gene (pfiT) and three other orthologous genes, including a homologue of the pbrA/pvdS iron response gene. CD4(+) T-cell responses to recombinant proteins were potent for I2 and pfiT, but modest for PA2885. pfiT has several features of a virulence factor: association with an iron-response locus, restricted species distribution, and T-cell superantigen bioactivity. These findings suggest roles for pfiT and P. fluorescens in the pathogenesis of Crohn's disease.

An A-factor-dependent extracytoplasmic function sigma factor (sigma(AdsA)) that is essential for morphological development in Streptomyces griseus

A-factor (2-isocapryloyl-3R-hydroxymethyl-gamma-butyrolactone) at an extremely low concentration triggers streptomycin production and aerial mycelium formation in Streptomyces griseus. A-factor induces the expression of an A-factor-dependent transcriptional activator, AdpA, essential for both morphological and physiological differentiation by binding to the A-factor receptor protein ArpA, which has bound and repressed the adpA promoter, and dissociating it from the promoter. Nine DNA fragments that were specifically recognized and bound by histidine-tagged AdpA were isolated by cycles of a gel mobility shift-PCR method. One of them was located in front of a gene encoding an extracytoplasmic function sigma factor belonging to a subgroup of the primary sigma(70) family. The cloned gene was named AdpA-dependent sigma factor gene (adsA), and the gene product was named sigma(AdsA). Transcription of adsA depended on A-factor and AdpA, since adsA was transcribed at a very low and constant level in an A-factor-deficient mutant strain or in an adpA-disrupted strain. Consistent with this, transcription of adsA was greatly enhanced at or near the timing of aerial hyphae formation, as determined by low-resolution S1 nuclease mapping. High-resolution S1 mapping determined the transcriptional start point 82 nucleotides upstream of the translational start codon. DNase I footprinting showed that AdpA bound both strands symmetrically between the transcriptional start point and the translational start codon; AdpA protected the antisense strand from positions +7 to +41 with respect to the transcriptional start point and the sense strand from positions +12 to +46. A weak palindrome was found in the AdpA-binding site. The unusual position bound by AdpA as a transcriptional activator, in relation to the promoter, suggested the presence of a mechanism by which AdpA activates transcription of adsA in some unknown way. Disruption of the chromosomal adsA gene resulted in loss of aerial hyphae formation but not streptomycin or yellow pigment production, indicating that sigma(AdsA) is involved only in morphological development and not in secondary metabolic function. The presence of a single copy in each of the Streptomyces species examined by Southern hybridization suggests a common role in morphogenesis in this genus.

Functional analysis of PvdS, an iron starvation sigma factor of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

In Pseudomonas aeruginosa, iron modulates gene expression through a cascade of negative and positive regulatory proteins. The master regulator Fur is involved in iron-dependent repression of several genes. One of these genes, pvdS, was predicted to encode a putative sigma factor responsible for the transcription of a subset of genes of the Fur regulon. PvdS appears to belong to a structurally and functionally distinct subgroup of the extracytoplasmic function family of alternative sigma factors. Members of this subgroup, also including PbrA from Pseudomonas fluorescens, PfrI and PupI from Pseudomonas putida, and FecI from Escherichia coli, are controlled by the Fur repressor, and they activate transcription of genes for the biosynthesis or the uptake of siderophores. Evidence is provided that the PvdS protein of P. aeruginosa is endowed with biochemical properties of eubacterial sigma factors, as it spontaneously forms 1:1 complexes with the core fraction of RNA polymerase (RNAP, alpha(2)betabeta' subunits), thereby promoting in vitro binding of the PvdS-RNAP holoenzyme to the promoter region of the pvdA gene. These functional features of PvdS are consistent with the presence of structural domains predicted to be involved in core RNAP binding, promoter recognition, and open complex formation. The activity of pyoverdin biosynthetic (pvd) promoters was significantly lower in E. coli overexpressing the multicopy pvdS gene than in wild-type P. aeruginosa PAO1 carrying the single gene copy, and pvd::lacZ transcriptional fusions were silent in both pfrI (the pvdS homologue) and pfrA (a positive regulator of pseudobactin biosynthetic genes) mutants of P. putida WCS358, while they are expressed at PAO1 levels in wild-type WCS358. Moreover, the PvdS-RNAP holoenzyme purified from E. coli lacked the ability to generate in vitro transcripts from the pvdA promoter. These observations suggest that at least one additional positive regulator could be required for full activity of the PvdS-dependent transcription complex both in vivo and in vitro. This is consistent with the presence of a putative activator binding site (the iron starvation box) at variable distance from the transcription initiation sites of promoters controlled by the iron starvation sigma factors PvdS, PfrI, and PbrA of fluorescent pseudomonads.

The Bacillus subtilis sigma(X) protein is an extracytoplasmic function sigma factor contributing to survival at high temperature

The sigX gene, identified as part of the international effort to sequence the Bacillus subtilis genome, has been proposed to encode an alternative sigma factor of the extracytoplasmic function (ECF) subfamily. The sigX gene is cotranscribed with a downstream gene, ypuN, during logarithmic and early stationary phases of growth. We now report that strains lacking sigma(X) are impaired in the ability to survive at high temperature whereas a ypuN mutant has increased thermotolerance. We overproduced and purified sigma(X) from Escherichia coli and demonstrate that in vitro, both sigma(A) and sigma(X) holoenzymes recognize promoter elements within the sigX-ypuN control region. However, they have distinct salt optima such that sigma(A)-dependent transcription predominates at low salt while sigma(X)-dependent transcription predominates at high salt. A 54-bp region upstream of sigX suffices as a sigma(X)-dependent promoter in vivo, demonstrating that sigX is at least partially under positive autoregulatory control. Mutation of ypuN increases expression from the sigma(X)-dependent promoter in vivo, suggesting that ypuN may encode a negative regulator of sigma(X) activity.