Integrated analysis and reconstruction of microbial transcriptional gene regulatory networks using CoryneRegNet

Molecular networks in Network Medicine: Development and applications

Network Medicine applies network science approaches to investigate disease pathogenesis. Many different analytical methods have been used to infer relevant molecular networks, including protein-protein interaction networks, correlation-based networks, gene regulatory networks, and Bayesian networks. Network Medicine applies these integrated approaches to Omics Big Data (including genetics, epigenetics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, and proteomics) using computational biology tools and, thereby, has the potential to provide improvements in the diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of complex diseases. We discuss briefly the types of molecular data that are used in molecular network analyses, survey the analytical methods for inferring molecular networks, and review efforts to validate and visualize molecular networks. Successful applications of molecular network analysis have been reported in pulmonary arterial hypertension, coronary heart disease, diabetes mellitus, chronic lung diseases, and drug development. Important knowledge gaps in Network Medicine include incompleteness of the molecular interactome, challenges in identifying key genes within genetic association regions, and limited applications to human diseases. This article is categorized under: Models of Systems Properties and Processes > Mechanistic Models Translational, Genomic, and Systems Medicine > Translational Medicine Analytical and Computational Methods > Analytical Methods Analytical and Computational Methods > Computational Methods.

CMRegNet-An interspecies reference database for corynebacterial and mycobacterial regulatory networks

Background

Organisms utilize a multitude of mechanisms for responding to changing environmental conditions, maintaining their functional homeostasis and to overcome stress situations. One of the most important mechanisms is transcriptional gene regulation. In-depth study of the transcriptional gene regulatory network can lead to various practical applications, creating a greater understanding of how organisms control their cellular behavior.

Description

In this work, we present a new database, CMRegNet for the gene regulatory networks of Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC 13032 and Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv. We furthermore transferred the known networks of these model organisms to 18 other non-model but phylogenetically close species (target organisms) of the CMNR group. In comparison to other network transfers, for the first time we utilized two model organisms resulting into a more diverse and complete network of the target organisms.

Conclusion

CMRegNet provides easy access to a total of 3,103 known regulations in C. glutamicum ATCC 13032 and M. tuberculosis H37Rv and to 38,940 evolutionary conserved interactions for 18 non-model species of the CMNR group. This makes CMRegNet to date the most comprehensive database of regulatory interactions of CMNR bacteria. The content of CMRegNet is publicly available online via a web interface found at http://lgcm.icb.ufmg.br/cmregnet.

OxyR acts as a transcriptional repressor of hydrogen peroxide-inducible antioxidant genes in Corynebacterium glutamicum R

OxyR, a LysR-type transcriptional regulator, has been established as a redox-responsive activator of antioxidant genes in bacteria. This study shows that OxyR acts as a transcriptional repressor of katA, dps, ftn and cydA in Corynebacterium glutamicum R. katA encodes H2O2-detoxifing enzyme catalase, dps and ftn are implicated in iron homeostasis and cydA encodes a subunit of cytochrome bd oxidase. Quantitative RT-PCR analyses revealed that expression of katA and dps, but not of ftn and cydA, was induced by H2O2. Disruption of the oxyR gene encoding OxyR resulted in a marked increase in katA and dps mRNAs to a level higher than that induced by H2O2, and the oxyR-deficient mutant showed a H2O2-resistant phenotype. This is in contrast to the conventional OxyR-dependent regulatory model. ftn and cydA were also upregulated by oxyR disruption but to a smaller extent. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays revealed that the OxyR protein specifically binds to all four upstream regions of the respective genes under reducing conditions. We observed that the oxidized form of OxyR similarly bound to not only the target promoter regions, but also nonspecific DNA fragments. Based on these findings, we propose that the transcriptional repression by OxyR is alleviated under oxidative stress conditions in a titration mechanism due to the decreased specificity of its DNA-binding activity. DNase I footprinting analyses revealed that the OxyR-binding site in the four target promoters is ~ 50 bp in length and has multiple T-N11-A motifs, a feature of LysR-type transcriptional regulators, but no significant overall sequence conservation.

Corynebacterium glutamicum promoters: a practical approach

Transcription initiation is the key step in gene expression in bacteria, and it is therefore studied for both theoretical and practical reasons. Promoters, the traffic lights of transcription initiation, are used as construction elements in biotechnological efforts to coordinate ‘green waves’ in the metabolic pathways leading to the desired metabolites. Detailed analyses of Corynebacterium glutamicum promoters have already provided large amounts of data on their structures, regulatory mechanisms and practical capabilities in metabolic engineering. In this minireview the main aspects of promoter studies, the methods developed for their analysis and their practical use in C. glutamicum are discussed. These include definitions of the consensus sequences of the distinct promoter classes, promoter localization and characterization, activity measurements, the functions of transcriptional regulators and examples of practical uses of constitutive, inducible and modified promoters in biotechnology. The implications of the introduction of novel techniques, such as in vitro transcription and RNA sequencing, to C. glutamicum promoter studies are outlined.

How little do we actually know? On the size of gene regulatory networks

The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) recently announced the availability of whole genome sequences for more than 1,000 species. And the number of sequenced individual organisms is growing. Ongoing improvement of DNA sequencing technology will further contribute to this, enabling large-scale evolution and population genetics studies. However, the availability of sequence information is only the first step in understanding how cells survive, reproduce, and adjust their behavior. The genetic control behind organized development and adaptation of complex organisms still remains widely undetermined. One major molecular control mechanism is transcriptional gene regulation. The direct juxtaposition of the total number of sequenced species to the handful of model organisms with known regulations is surprising. Here, we investigate how little we even know about these model organisms. We aim to predict the sizes of the whole-organism regulatory networks of seven species. In particular, we provide statistical lower bounds for the expected number of regulations. For Escherichia coli we estimate at most 37 percent of the expected gene regulatory interactions to be already discovered, 24 percent for Bacillus subtilis, and <3% human, respectively. We conclude that even for our best researched model organisms we still lack substantial understanding of fundamental molecular control mechanisms, at least on a large scale.

On the trail of EHEC/EAEC--unraveling the gene regulatory networks of human pathogenic Escherichia coli bacteria

Pathogenic Escherichia coli, such as Enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC) and Enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC), are globally widespread bacteria. Some may cause the hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Varying strains cause epidemics all over the world. Recently, we observed an epidemic outbreak of a multi-resistant EHEC strain in Western Europe, mainly in Germany. The Robert Koch Institute reports >4300 infections and >50 deaths (July, 2011). Farmers lost several million EUR since the origin of infection was unclear. Here, we contribute to the currently ongoing research with a computer-aided study of EHEC transcriptional regulatory interactions, a network of genetic switches that control, for instance, pathogenicity, survival and reproduction of bacterial cells. Our strategy is to utilize knowledge of gene regulatory networks from the evolutionary relative E. coli K-12, a harmless strain mainly used for wet lab studies. In order to provide high-potential candidates for human pathogenic E. coli bacteria, such as EHEC, we developed the integrated online database and an analysis platform EhecRegNet. We utilize 3489 known regulations from E. coli K-12 for predictions of yet unknown gene regulatory interactions in 16 human pathogens. For these strains we predict 40,913 regulatory interactions. EhecRegNet is based on the identification of evolutionarily conserved regulatory sites within the DNA of the harmless E. coli K-12 and the pathogens. Identifying and characterizing EHEC's genetic control mechanism network on a large scale will allow for a better understanding of its survival and infection strategies. This will support the development of urgently needed new treatments. EhecRegNet is online via http://www.ehecregnet.de.

NdnR is an NAD-responsive transcriptional repressor of the ndnR operon involved in NAD de novo biosynthesis in Corynebacterium glutamicum

The Corynebacterium glutamicum ndnR gene, which is chromosomally located in a gene cluster involved in NAD de novo biosynthesis, negatively regulates expression of the cluster genes, i.e. nadA, nadC, nadS and ndnR itself. Although ndnR encodes a member of the recently identified NrtR family of transcriptional regulators, whether or not the NdnR protein directly regulates these NAD biosynthesis genes remains to be verified. Here, two NdnR binding sites in the promoter region of the ndnR-nadA-nadC-nadS operon in C. glutamicum were confirmed by in vitro DNA binding assay and analysis of in vivo expression of the chromosomally integrated ndnR promoter-lacZ reporter fusion. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay revealed that the NdnR protein binds to the 5'-upstream region of ndnR, and that the binding is significantly enhanced by NAD. Mutation in two 21 bp NdnR binding motifs in the ndnR promoter region inhibited the binding of NdnR in vitro. The mutation also enhanced the promoter activity in cells cultured in the presence of nicotinate, which is utilized in NAD biosynthesis, resulting in the loss of the repression in response to an exogenous NAD precursor; this is consistent with the effect of deletion of ndnR reported in our previous study. These results indicate that NAD acts as a co-repressor for the NdnR protein that directly regulates the ndnR operon involved in NAD de novo biosynthesis; the NAD-NdnR regulatory system likely plays an important role in the control of NAD homeostasis in C. glutamicum.

Arabitol metabolism of Corynebacterium glutamicum and its regulation by AtlR

Expression profiling of Corynebacterium glutamicum in comparison to a derivative deficient in the transcriptional regulator AtlR (previously known as SucR or MtlR) revealed eight genes showing more than 4-fold higher mRNA levels in the mutant. Four of these genes are located in the direct vicinity of the atlR gene, i.e., xylB, rbtT, mtlD, and sixA, annotated as encoding xylulokinase, the ribitol transporter, mannitol 2-dehydrogenase, and phosphohistidine phosphatase, respectively. Transcriptional analysis indicated that atlR and the four genes are organized as atlR-xylB and rbtT-mtlD-sixA operons. Growth experiments with C. glutamicum and C. glutamicum ΔatlR, ΔxylB, ΔrbtT, ΔmtlD, and ΔsixA derivatives with sugar alcohols revealed that (i) wild-type C. glutamicum grows on D-arabitol but not on other sugar alcohols, (ii) growth in the presence of D-arabitol allows subsequent growth on D-mannitol, (iii) D-arabitol is cometabolized with glucose and preferentially utilized over D-mannitol, (iv) RbtT and XylB are involved in D-arabitol but not in D-mannitol metabolism, (v) MtlD is required for D-arabitol and D-mannitol metabolism, and (vi) SixA is not required for growth on any of the substrates tested. Furthermore, we show that MtlD confers D-arabitol and D-mannitol dehydrogenase activities, that the levels of these and also xylulokinase activities are generally high in the C. glutamicum ΔatlR mutant, whereas in the parental strain, they were high when cells were grown in the presence of D-arabitol and very low when cells were grown in its absence. Our results show that the XylB, RbtT, and MtlD proteins allow the growth of C. glutamicum on D-arabitol and that D-arabitol metabolism is subject to arabitol-dependent derepression by AtlR.

CoryneRegNet 6.0--Updated database content, new analysis methods and novel features focusing on community demands

Post-genomic analysis techniques such as next-generation sequencing have produced vast amounts of data about micro organisms including genetic sequences, their functional annotations and gene regulatory interactions. The latter are genetic mechanisms that control a cell's characteristics, for instance, pathogenicity as well as survival and reproduction strategies. CoryneRegNet is the reference database and analysis platform for corynebacterial gene regulatory networks. In this article we introduce the updated version 6.0 of CoryneRegNet and describe the updated database content which includes, 6352 corynebacterial regulatory interactions compared with 4928 interactions in release 5.0 and 3235 regulations in release 4.0, respectively. We also demonstrate how we support the community by integrating analysis and visualization features for transiently imported custom data, such as gene regulatory interactions. Furthermore, with release 6.0, we provide easy-to-use functions that allow the user to submit data for persistent storage with the CoryneRegNet database. Thus, it offers important options to its users in terms of community demands. CoryneRegNet is publicly available at http://www.coryneregnet.de.

Complete genome sequence of Corynebacterium variabile DSM 44702 isolated from the surface of smear-ripened cheeses and insights into cheese ripening and flavor generation

Background

Corynebacterium variabile is part of the complex microflora on the surface of smear-ripened cheeses and contributes to the development of flavor and textural properties during cheese ripening. Still little is known about the metabolic processes and microbial interactions during the production of smear-ripened cheeses. Therefore, the gene repertoire contributing to the lifestyle of the cheese isolate C. variabile DSM 44702 was deduced from the complete genome sequence to get a better understanding of this industrial process.

Results

The chromosome of C. variabile DSM 44702 is composed of 3, 433, 007 bp and contains 3, 071 protein-coding regions. A comparative analysis of this gene repertoire with that of other corynebacteria detected 1, 534 predicted genes to be specific for the cheese isolate. These genes might contribute to distinct metabolic capabilities of C. variabile, as several of them are associated with metabolic functions in cheese habitats by playing roles in the utilization of alternative carbon and sulphur sources, in amino acid metabolism, and fatty acid degradation. Relevant C. variabile genes confer the capability to catabolize gluconate, lactate, propionate, taurine, and gamma-aminobutyric acid and to utilize external caseins. In addition, C. variabile is equipped with several siderophore biosynthesis gene clusters for iron acquisition and an exceptional repertoire of AraC-regulated iron uptake systems. Moreover, C. variabile can produce acetoin, butanediol, and methanethiol, which are important flavor compounds in smear-ripened cheeses.

Conclusions

The genome sequence of C. variabile provides detailed insights into the distinct metabolic features of this bacterium, implying a strong adaption to the iron-depleted cheese surface habitat. By combining in silico data obtained from the genome annotation with previous experimental knowledge, occasional observations on genes that are involved in the complex metabolic capacity of C. variabile were integrated into a global view on the lifestyle of this species.

Genome wide identification of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans (ATCC 23270) transcription factors and comparative analysis of ArsR and MerR metal regulators

Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans is a chemolithoautotrophic acidophilic bacterium that obtains its energy from the oxidation of ferrous iron, elemental sulfur, or reduced sulfur minerals. This capability makes it of great industrial importance due to its applications in biomining. During the industrial processes, A. ferrooxidans survives to stressing circumstances in its environment, such as an extremely acidic pH and high concentration of transition metals. In order to gain insight into the organization of A. ferrooxidans regulatory networks and to provide a framework for further studies in bacterial growth under extreme conditions, we applied a genome-wide annotation procedure to identify 87 A. ferrooxidans transcription factors. We classified them into 19 families that were conserved among diverse prokaryotic phyla. Our annotation procedure revealed that A. ferrooxidans genome contains several members of the ArsR and MerR families, which are involved in metal resistance and detoxification. Analysis of their sequences revealed known and potentially new mechanism to coordinate gene-expression in response to metal availability. A. ferrooxidans inhabit some of the most metal-rich environments known, thus transcription factors identified here seem to be good candidates for functional studies in order to determine their physiological roles and to place them into A. ferrooxidans transcriptional regulatory networks.

A combined approach for comparative exoproteome analysis of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis

Background

Bacterial exported proteins represent key components of the host-pathogen interplay. Hence, we sought to implement a combined approach for characterizing the entire exoproteome of the pathogenic bacterium Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis, the etiological agent of caseous lymphadenitis (CLA) in sheep and goats.

Results

An optimized protocol of three-phase partitioning (TPP) was used to obtain the C. pseudotuberculosis exoproteins, and a newly introduced method of data-independent MS acquisition (LC-MS^E) was employed for protein identification and label-free quantification. Additionally, the recently developed tool SurfG+ was used for in silico prediction of sub-cellular localization of the identified proteins. In total, 93 different extracellular proteins of C. pseudotuberculosis were identified with high confidence by this strategy; 44 proteins were commonly identified in two different strains, isolated from distinct hosts, then composing a core C. pseudotuberculosis exoproteome. Analysis with the SurfG+ tool showed that more than 75% (70/93) of the identified proteins could be predicted as containing signals for active exportation. Moreover, evidence could be found for probable non-classical export of most of the remaining proteins.

Conclusions

Comparative analyses of the exoproteomes of two C. pseudotuberculosis strains, in addition to comparison with other experimentally determined corynebacterial exoproteomes, were helpful to gain novel insights into the contribution of the exported proteins in the virulence of this bacterium. The results presented here compose the most comprehensive coverage of the exoproteome of a corynebacterial species so far.

The complete genome sequence of Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis FRC41 isolated from a 12-year-old girl with necrotizing lymphadenitis reveals insights into gene-regulatory networks contributing to virulence

BACKGROUND

Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis is generally regarded as an important animal pathogen that rarely infects humans. Clinical strains are occasionally recovered from human cases of lymphadenitis, such as C. pseudotuberculosis FRC41 that was isolated from the inguinal lymph node of a 12-year-old girl with necrotizing lymphadenitis. To detect potential virulence factors and corresponding gene-regulatory networks in this human isolate, the genome sequence of C. pseudotuberculosis FCR41 was determined by pyrosequencing and functionally annotated.

RESULTS

Sequencing and assembly of the C. pseudotuberculosis FRC41 genome yielded a circular chromosome with a size of 2,337,913 bp and a mean G+C content of 52.2%. Specific gene sets associated with iron and zinc homeostasis were detected among the 2,110 predicted protein-coding regions and integrated into a gene-regulatory network that is linked with both the central metabolism and the oxidative stress response of FRC41. Two gene clusters encode proteins involved in the sortase-mediated polymerization of adhesive pili that can probably mediate the adherence to host tissue to facilitate additional ligand-receptor interactions and the delivery of virulence factors. The prominent virulence factors phospholipase D (Pld) and corynebacterial protease CP40 are encoded in the genome of this human isolate. The genome annotation revealed additional serine proteases, neuraminidase H, nitric oxide reductase, an invasion-associated protein, and acyl-CoA carboxylase subunits involved in mycolic acid biosynthesis as potential virulence factors. The cAMP-sensing transcription regulator GlxR plays a key role in controlling the expression of several genes contributing to virulence.

CONCLUSION

The functional data deduced from the genome sequencing and the extended knowledge of virulence factors indicate that the human isolate C. pseudotuberculosis FRC41 is equipped with a distinct gene set promoting its survival under unfavorable environmental conditions encountered in the mammalian host.

Quinone-dependent D-lactate dehydrogenase Dld (Cg1027) is essential for growth of Corynebacterium glutamicum on D-lactate

Background

Corynebacterium glutamicum is able to grow with lactate as sole or combined carbon and energy source. Quinone-dependent L-lactate dehydrogenase LldD is known to be essential for utilization of L-lactate by C. glutamicum. D-lactate also serves as sole carbon source for C. glutamicum ATCC 13032.

Results

Here, the gene cg1027 was shown to encode the quinone-dependent D-lactate dehydrogenase (Dld) by enzymatic analysis of the protein purified from recombinant E. coli. The absorption spectrum of purified Dld indicated the presence of FAD as bound cofactor. Inactivation of dld resulted in the loss of the ability to grow with D-lactate, which could be restored by plasmid-borne expression of dld. Heterologous expression of dld from C. glutamicum ATCC 13032 in C. efficiens enabled this species to grow with D-lactate as sole carbon source. Homologs of dld of C. glutamicum ATCC 13032 are not encoded in the sequenced genomes of other corynebacteria and mycobacteria. However, the dld locus of C. glutamicum ATCC 13032 shares 2367 bp of 2372 bp identical nucleotides with the dld locus of Propionibacterium freudenreichii subsp. shermanii, a bacterium used in Swiss-type cheese making. Both loci are flanked by insertion sequences of the same family suggesting a possible event of horizontal gene transfer.

Conclusions

Cg1067 encodes quinone-dependent D-lactate dehydrogenase Dld of Corynebacterium glutamicum. Dld is essential for growth with D-lactate as sole carbon source. The genomic region of dld likely has been acquired by horizontal gene transfer.

Regulation of genes involved in sugar uptake, glycolysis and lactate production in Corynebacterium glutamicum

Corynebacterium glutamicum is a nonpathogenic, GC-rich, Gram-positive bacterium with a long history in the industrial production of amino acids. Recently, the species has become of increasing interest as a model bacterium for closely related, medically important pathogenic species such as Corynebacterium diphtheriae and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In this article, recent advances in understanding of the C. glutamicum regulatory network of genes involved in carbohydrate metabolism are reviewed with regards to sugar uptake, glycolysis and lactate production.

On the power and limits of evolutionary conservation--unraveling bacterial gene regulatory networks

The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) recently announced ‘1000 prokaryotic genomes are now completed and available in the Genome database’. The increasing trend will provide us with thousands of sequenced microbial organisms over the next years. However, this is only the first step in understanding how cells survive, reproduce and adapt their behavior while being exposed to changing environmental conditions. One major control mechanism is transcriptional gene regulation. Here, striking is the direct juxtaposition of the handful of bacterial model organisms to the 1000 prokaryotic genomes. Next-generation sequencing technologies will further widen this gap drastically. However, several computational approaches have proven to be helpful. The main idea is to use the known transcriptional regulatory network of reference organisms as template in order to unravel evolutionarily conserved gene regulations in newly sequenced species. This transfer essentially depends on the reliable identification of several types of conserved DNA sequences. We decompose this problem into three computational processes, review the state of the art and illustrate future perspectives.

A novel redox-sensing transcriptional regulator CyeR controls expression of an Old Yellow Enzyme family protein in Corynebacterium glutamicum

Corynebacterium glutamicum cgR_2930 (cyeR) encodes a transcriptional regulator of the ArsR family. Its gene product, CyeR, was shown here to repress the expression of cyeR and the cgR_2931 (cye1)-cgR_2932 operon, which is located upstream of cyeR in the opposite orientation. The cye1 gene encodes an Old Yellow Enzyme family protein, members of which have been implicated in the oxidative stress response. CyeR binds to the intergenic region between cyeR and cye1. Expression of cyeR and cye1 is induced by oxidative stress, and the DNA-binding activity of CyeR is impaired by oxidants such as diamide and H(2)O(2). CyeR contains two cysteine residues, Cys-36 and Cys-43. Whereas mutation of the former (C36A) has no effect on the redox regulation of CyeR activity, mutating the latter (C43A, C43S) abolishes the DNA-binding activity of CyeR. Cys-43 of CyeR and its C36A derivative are modified upon treatment with diamide, suggesting an important role for Cys-43 in the redox regulation of CyeR activity. It is concluded that CyeR is a redox-sensing transcriptional regulator that controls cye1 expression.

The transcriptional regulators RamA and RamB are involved in the regulation of glycogen synthesis in Corynebacterium glutamicum

When grown in glucose-, fructose- or sucrose-containing medium, the amino acid producer Corynebacterium glutamicum transiently accumulates large amounts of glycogen (up to 10% of its dry weight), whereas only a marginal amount of glycogen is formed during growth with acetate. This carbon-source-dependent regulation is at least partially due to transcriptional control of glgC, encoding ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase, the first enzyme of glycogen synthesis from glucose-1-phosphate. Here, we have analysed a possible regulatory role for the transcriptional regulators RamA and RamB on glycogen content of the cells and on control of expression of glgC and of glgA, which encodes the second enzyme of glycogen synthesis, glycogen synthase. Determination of the glycogen content of RamA- and RamB-deficient C. glutamicum indicated that RamA and RamB influence glycogen synthesis positively and negatively, respectively. In accordance with the identification of putative RamA and RamB binding sites upstream of glgC and glgA, both regulators were found to bind specifically to the glgC-glgA intergenic promoter region. Promoter activity assays in wild-type and RamA- and RamB-deficient strains of C. glutamicum revealed that (i) RamA is a positive regulator of glgC and glgA, (ii) RamB is a negative regulator of glgA and (iii) neither RamA nor RamB alone is responsible for the carbon-source-dependent regulation of glycogen synthesis in C. glutamicum.

The Zur regulon of Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC 13032

Background

Zinc is considered as an essential element for all living organisms, but it can be toxic at large concentrations. Bacteria therefore tightly regulate zinc metabolism. The Cg2502 protein of Corynebacterium glutamicum was a candidate to control zinc metabolism in this species, since it was classified as metalloregulator of the zinc uptake regulator (Zur) subgroup of the ferric uptake regulator (Fur) family of DNA-binding transcription regulators.

Results

The cg2502 (zur) gene was deleted in the chromosome of C. glutamicum ATCC 13032 by an allelic exchange procedure to generate the zur-deficient mutant C. glutamicum JS2502. Whole-genome DNA microarray hybridizations and real-time RT-PCR assays comparing the gene expression in C. glutamicum JS2502 with that of the wild-type strain detected 18 genes with enhanced expression in the zur mutant. The expression data were combined with results from cross-genome comparisons of shared regulatory sites, revealing the presence of candidate Zur-binding sites in the mapped promoter regions of five transcription units encoding components of potential zinc ABC-type transporters (cg0041-cg0042/cg0043; cg2911-cg2912-cg2913), a putative secreted protein (cg0040), a putative oxidoreductase (cg0795), and a putative P-loop GTPase of the COG0523 protein family (cg0794). Enhanced transcript levels of the respective genes in C. glutamicum JS2502 were verified by real-time RT-PCR, and complementation of the mutant with a wild-type zur gene reversed the effect of differential gene expression. The zinc-dependent expression of the putative cg0042 and cg2911 operons was detected in vivo with a gfp reporter system. Moreover, the zinc-dependent binding of purified Zur protein to double-stranded 40-mer oligonucleotides containing candidate Zur-binding sites was demonstrated in vitro by DNA band shift assays.

Conclusion

Whole-genome expression profiling and DNA band shift assays demonstrated that Zur directly represses in a zinc-dependent manner the expression of nine genes organized in five transcription units. Accordingly, the Zur (Cg2502) protein is the key transcription regulator for genes involved in zinc homeostasis in C. glutamicum.

Mechanisms and evolution of control logic in prokaryotic transcriptional regulation

A major part of organismal complexity and versatility of prokaryotes resides in their ability to fine-tune gene expression to adequately respond to internal and external stimuli. Evolution has been very innovative in creating intricate mechanisms by which different regulatory signals operate and interact at promoters to drive gene expression. The regulation of target gene expression by transcription factors (TFs) is governed by control logic brought about by the interaction of regulators with TF binding sites (TFBSs) in cis-regulatory regions. A factor that in large part determines the strength of the response of a target to a given TF is motif stringency, the extent to which the TFBS fits the optimal TFBS sequence for a given TF. Advances in high-throughput technologies and computational genomics allow reconstruction of transcriptional regulatory networks in silico. To optimize the prediction of transcriptional regulatory networks, i.e., to separate direct regulation from indirect regulation, a thorough understanding of the control logic underlying the regulation of gene expression is required. This review summarizes the state of the art of the elements that determine the functionality of TFBSs by focusing on the molecular biological mechanisms and evolutionary origins of cis-regulatory regions.

MotifAdjuster: a tool for computational reassessment of transcription factor binding site annotations

Valuable binding-site annotation data are stored in databases. However, several types of errors can, and do, occur in the process of manually incorporating annotation data from the scientific literature into these databases. Here, we introduce MotifAdjuster http://dig.ipk-gatersleben.de/MotifAdjuster.html, a tool that helps to detect these errors, and we demonstrate its efficacy on public data sets.