Gal repressor-operator-HU ternary complex: pathway of repressosome formation

Bacterial nucleoid-associated protein HU as an extracellular player in host-pathogen interaction

HU protein is a member of nucleoid-associated proteins (NAPs) and is an important regulator of bacterial virulence, pathogenesis and survival. NAPs are mainly DNA structuring proteins that influence several molecular processes by binding the DNA. HU´s indispensable role in DNA-related processes in bacteria was described. HU protein is a necessary bacterial transcription factor and is considered to be a virulence determinant as well. Less is known about its direct role in host-pathogen interactions. The latest studies suggest that HU protein may be secreted outside bacteria and be a part of the extracellular matrix. Moreover, HU protein can be internalized in a host cell after bacterial infection. Its role in the host cell is not well described and further studies are extremely needed. Existing results suggest the involvement of HU protein in host cell immune response modulation in bacterial favor, which can help pathogens resist host defense mechanisms. A better understanding of the HU protein’s role in the host cell will help to effective treatment development.

Three Microbial Musketeers of the Seas: Shewanella baltica, Aliivibrio fischeri and Vibrio harveyi, and Their Adaptation to Different Salinity Probed by a Proteomic Approach

Osmotic changes are common challenges for marine microorganisms. Bacteria have developed numerous ways of dealing with this stress, including reprogramming of global cellular processes. However, specific molecular adaptation mechanisms to osmotic stress have mainly been investigated in terrestrial model bacteria. In this work, we aimed to elucidate the basis of adjustment to prolonged salinity challenges at the proteome level in marine bacteria. The objects of our studies were three representatives of bacteria inhabiting various marine environments, Shewanella baltica, Vibrio harveyi and Aliivibrio fischeri. The proteomic studies were performed with bacteria cultivated in increased and decreased salinity, followed by proteolytic digestion of samples which were then subjected to liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry analysis. We show that bacteria adjust at all levels of their biological processes, from DNA topology through gene expression regulation and proteasome assembly, to transport and cellular metabolism. The finding that many similar adaptation strategies were observed for both low- and high-salinity conditions is particularly striking. The results show that adaptation to salinity challenge involves the accumulation of DNA-binding proteins and increased polyamine uptake. We hypothesize that their function is to coat and protect the nucleoid to counteract adverse changes in DNA topology due to ionic shifts.

Nucleoid-Associated Protein HU: A Lilliputian in Gene Regulation of Bacterial Virulence

Nucleoid-associated proteins belong to a group of small but abundant proteins in bacterial cells. These transcription regulators are responsible for many important cellular processes and also are involved in pathogenesis of bacteria. The best-known nucleoid-associated proteins, such as HU, FIS, H-NS, and IHF, are often discussed. The most important findings in research concerning HU protein are described in this mini review. Its roles in DNA compaction, shape modulation, and negative supercoiling induction have been studied intensively. HU protein regulates bacteria survival, growth, SOS response, virulence genes expression, cell division, and many other cell processes. Elucidating the mechanism of HU protein action has been the subject of many research projects. This mini review provides a comprehensive overview of the HU protein.

Genome-Wide Transcriptional Regulation and Chromosome Structural Arrangement by GalR in E. coli

The regulatory protein, GalR, is known for controlling transcription of genes related to D-galactose metabolism in Escherichia coli. Here, using a combination of experimental and bioinformatic approaches, we identify novel GalR binding sites upstream of several genes whose function is not directly related to D-galactose metabolism. Moreover, we do not observe regulation of these genes by GalR under standard growth conditions. Thus, our data indicate a broader regulatory role for GalR, and suggest that regulation by GalR is modulated by other factors. Surprisingly, we detect regulation of 158 transcripts by GalR, with few regulated genes being associated with a nearby GalR binding site. Based on our earlier observation of long-range interactions between distally bound GalR dimers, we propose that GalR indirectly regulates the transcription of many genes by inducing large-scale restructuring of the chromosome.

Streptomyces coelicolor XdhR is a direct target of (p)ppGpp that controls expression of genes encoding xanthine dehydrogenase to promote purine salvage

The gene encoding Streptomyces coelicolor xanthine dehydrogenase regulator (XdhR) is divergently oriented from xdhABC, which encodes xanthine dehydrogenase (Xdh). Xdh is required for purine salvage pathways. XdhR was previously shown to repress xdhABC expression. We show that XdhR binds the xdhABC-xdhR intergenic region with high affinity (Kd ∼ 0.5 nM). DNaseI footprinting reveals that this complex formation corresponds to XdhR binding the xdhR gene promoter at two adjacent sites; at higher protein concentrations, protection expands to a region that overlaps the transcriptional and translational start sites of xdhABC. While substrates for Xdh have little effect on DNA binding, GTP and ppGpp dissociate the DNA-XdhR complex. Progression of cells to stationary phase, a condition associated with increased (p)ppGpp production, leads to elevated xdhB expression; in contrast, inhibition of Xdh by allopurinol results in xdhB repression. We propose that XdhR is a direct target of (p)ppGpp, and that expression of xdhABC is upregulated during the stringent response to promote purine salvage pathways, maintain GTP homeostasis and ensure continued (p)ppGpp synthesis. During exponential phase growth, basal levels of xdhABC expression may be achieved by GTP serving as a lower-affinity XdhR ligand.

Molecular Mechanisms of Transcription Initiation at gal Promoters and their Multi-Level Regulation by GalR, CRP and DNA Loop

Studying the regulation of transcription of the gal operon that encodes the amphibolic pathway of d-galactose metabolism in Escherichia coli discerned a plethora of principles that operate in prokaryotic gene regulatory processes. In this chapter, we have reviewed some of the more recent findings in gal that continues to reveal unexpected but important mechanistic details. Since the operon is transcribed from two overlapping promoters, P1 and P2, regulated by common regulatory factors, each genetic or biochemical experiment allowed simultaneous discernment of two promoters. Recent studies range from genetic, biochemical through biophysical experiments providing explanations at physiological, mechanistic and single molecule levels. The salient observations highlighted here are: the axiom of determining transcription start points, discovery of a new promoter element different from the known ones that influences promoter strength, occurrence of an intrinsic DNA sequence element that overrides the transcription elongation pause created by a DNA-bound protein roadblock, first observation of a DNA loop and determination its trajectory, and piggybacking proteins and delivering to their DNA target.

DNA looping-dependent autorepression of LEE1 P1 promoters by Ler in enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC)

Ler, a homolog of H-NS in enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC), plays a critical role in the expression of virulence genes encoded by the pathogenic island, locus of enterocyte effacement (LEE). Although Ler acts as an antisilencer of multiple LEE operons by alleviating H-NS-mediated silencing, it represses its own expression from two LEE1 P1 promoters, P1A and P1B, that are separated by 10 bp. Various in vitro biochemical methods were used in this study to elucidate the mechanism underlying transcription repression by Ler. Ler acts through two AATT motifs, centered at position -111.5 on the coding strand and at +65.5 on the noncoding strand, by simultaneously repressing P1A and P1B through DNA-looping. DNA-looping was visualized using atomic force microscopy. It is intriguing that an antisilencing protein represses transcription, not by steric exclusion of RNA polymerase, but by DNA-looping. We propose that the DNA-looping prevents further processing of open promoter complex (RPO) at these promoters during transcription initiation.

Regulation of fructooligosaccharide metabolism in an extra-intestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli strain

A gene cluster involved in the metabolism of prebiotic short-chain fructooligosaccharides (scFOS) has recently been identified in the extra-intestinal avian pathogenic Escherichia coli strain BEN2908. This gene cluster, called the fos locus, plays a major role in the initiation stage of chicken intestinal colonization. This locus is composed of six genes organized as an operon encoding a sugar transporter and enzymes involved in scFOS metabolism, and of a divergently transcribed gene encoding a transcriptional regulator, FosR, belonging to the LacI/GalR family. To decipher the regulation of scFOS metabolism, we monitored the fos operon promoter activity using a luciferase reporter gene assay. We demonstrated that the expression of fos genes is repressed by FosR, controlled by catabolite repression and induced in the presence of scFOS. Using electrophoretic mobility shift assays and surface plasmon resonance experiments, we showed that FosR binds to two operator sequences of the fos operon promoter region. This binding to DNA was inhibited in the presence of scFOS, especially by GF2. We then propose a model of scFOS metabolism regulation in a pathogenic bacterium, which will help to identify the environmental conditions required for fos gene expression and to understand the role of this locus in intestinal colonization.

Modulation of HU-DNA interactions by salt concentration and applied force

HU is one of the most abundant proteins in bacterial chromosomes and participates in nucleoid compaction and gene regulation. We report experiments using DNA stretching that study the dependence of DNA condensation by HU on force, salt and HU concentration. Previous experiments at sub-physiological salt levels revealed that low concentrations of HU could compact DNA, whereas larger HU concentrations formed a DNA-stiffening complex. Here we report that this bimodal binding behavior depends sensitively on salt concentration. Only the compaction mode was observed for 150 mM and higher NaCl levels, i.e. for physiological salt concentrations. Similar results were obtained for the more physiological salt K-glutamate. Real-time studies of dissociation kinetics revealed that HU unbound slowly (minutes to hours under the conditions studied) but completely for salt concentrations at or above 100 mM NaCl; the lifetime of HU complexes was observed to increase with the HU concentration at which the complexes were formed, and to decrease with salt concentration. Higher salt levels of 300 mM NaCl completely eliminated observable HU binding to DNA. Finally, we observed that the dissociation kinetics depend on force applied to the DNA: increased applied force in the sub-piconewton range accelerates dissociation, suggesting a mechanism for DNA tension to regulate chromosome structure and gene expression.

Autoregulation of the Escherichia coli melR promoter: repression involves four molecules of MelR

The Escherichia coli MelR protein is a transcription activator that autoregulates its own promoter by repressing transcription initiation. Optimal repression requires MelR binding to a site that overlaps the melR transcription start point and to upstream sites. In this work, we have investigated the different determinants needed for optimal repression and their spatial requirements. We show that repression requires a complex involving four DNA-bound MelR molecules, and that the global CRP regulator plays little or no role.

The Escherichia coli histone-like protein HU has a role in stationary phase adaptive mutation

Stationary phase adaptive mutation in Escherichia coli is thought to be a mechanism by which mutation rates are increased during stressful conditions, increasing the possibility that fitness-enhancing mutations arise. Here we present data showing that the histone-like protein, HU, has a role in the molecular pathway by which adaptive Lac(+) mutants arise in E. coli strain FC40. Adaptive Lac(+) mutations are largely but not entirely due to error-prone DNA polymerase IV (Pol IV). Mutations in either of the HU subunits, HUalpha or HUbeta, decrease adaptive mutation to Lac(+) by both Pol IV-dependent and Pol IV-independent pathways. Additionally, HU mutations inhibit growth-dependent mutations without a reduction in the level of Pol IV. These effects of HU mutations on adaptive mutation and on growth-dependent mutations reveal novel functions for HU in mutagenesis.

Spiral structure of Escherichia coli HUalphabeta provides foundation for DNA supercoiling

We determined the crystal structure of the Escherichia coli nucleoid-associated HUalphabeta protein by x-ray diffraction and observed that the heterodimers form multimers with octameric units in three potential arrangements, which may serve specialized roles in different DNA transaction reactions. It is of special importance that one of the structures forms spiral filaments with left-handed rotations. A negatively superhelical DNA can be modeled to wrap around this left-handed HUalphabeta multimer. Whereas the wild-type HU generated negative DNA supercoiling in vitro, an engineered heterodimer with an altered amino acid residue critical for the formation of the left-handed spiral protein in the crystal was defective in the process, thus providing the structural explanation for the classical property of HU to restrain negative supercoils in DNA.

The role of LRP and H-NS in transcription regulation: involvement of synergism, allostery and macromolecular crowding

LRP has recently been shown to interact with the regulatory regions of bacterial ribosomal RNA promoters. Here we study details of the LRP-rDNA interaction by gel retardation and high-resolution footprinting techniques. We show that a second regulator for rRNA transcription, H-NS, facilitates the formation of a higher-order LRP-nucleoprotein complex, probably acting transiently as a DNA chaperone. The macromolecular crowding substance ectoine stabilizes the formation of this dynamic complex, while the amino acid leucine, as a metabolic effector, has the opposite effect. DNase I and hydroxyl radical footprint experiments with LRP-DNA complexes reveal a periodic change of the target DNA structure, which implies extensive DNA wrapping reaching into the promoter core region. We show furthermore that LRP binding is able to constrain supercoils, providing a link between DNA topology and regulation. The results support the conclusion that the bacterial DNA-binding protein LRP, assisted by H-NS, forms a repressive nucleoprotein structure involved in regulation of rRNA transcription. The formation of this regulatory structure appears to be directly affected by environmental changes.

A gamut of loops: meandering DNA

Nucleoprotein complexes comprising short DNA loops (150 base pairs or less) are involved in a wide variety of DNA transactions (e.g. transcription regulation, replication and recombination) in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes, and also can be useful in designing nanostructures. In these higher-order nucleoprotein complexes, proteins bound to spatially separated sites on a DNA interact with each other by looping out the relatively stiff intervening DNA. Recent technological developments have enabled determination of DNA trajectories in a few DNA-loop-containing regulatory complexes. Results show that, in a given system, a specific DNA trajectory is preferred over others.