Modulation of the function of the signal receptor domain of XylR, a member of a family of prokaryotic enhancer-like positive regulators

Biological Switches: Past and Future Milestones of Transcription Factor-Based Biosensors

Since the description of the lac operon in 1961 by Jacob and Monod, transcriptional regulation in prokaryotes has been studied extensively and has led to the development of transcription factor-based biosensors. Due to the broad variety of detectable small molecules and their various applications across biotechnology, biosensor research and development have increased exponentially over the past decades. Throughout this period, key milestones in fundamental knowledge, synthetic biology, analytical tools, and computational learning have led to an immense expansion of the biosensor repertoire and its application portfolio. Over the years, biosensor engineering became a more multidisciplinary discipline, combining high-throughput analytical tools, DNA randomization strategies, forward engineering, and advanced protein engineering workflows. Despite these advances, many obstacles remain to fully unlock the potential of biosensor technology. This review analyzes the timeline of key milestones on fundamental research (1960s to 2000s) and engineering strategies (2000s onward), on both the DNA and protein level of biosensors. Moreover, insights into the future perspectives, remaining hurdles, and unexplored opportunities of this promising field are discussed.

An updated structural model of the A domain of the Pseudomonas putida XylR regulator poses an atypical interplay with aromatic effectors

A revised model of the aromatic binding A domain of the σ⁵⁴ -dependent regulator XylR of Pseudomonas putida mt-2 was produced based on the known 3D structures of homologous regulators PoxR, MopR and DmpR. The resulting frame was instrumental for mapping a number of mutations known to alter effector specificity, which were then reinterpreted under a dependable spatial reference. Some of these changes involved the predicted aromatic binding pocket but others occurred in distant locations, including dimerization interfaces and putative zinc binding site. The effector pocket was buried within the protein structure and accessible from the outside only through a narrow tunnel. Yet, several loop regions of the A domain could provide the flexibility required for widening such a tunnel for passage of aromatic ligands. The model was experimentally validated by treating the cells in vivo and the purified protein in vitro with benzyl bromide, which reacts with accessible nucleophilic residues on the protein surface. Structural and proteomic analyses confirmed the predicted in/out distribution of residues but also supported two additional possible scenarios of interaction of the A domain with aromatic effectors: a dynamic interaction of the fully structured yet flexible protein with the aromatic partner and/or inducer-assisted folding of the A domain.

The predicted σ(54)-dependent regulator EtpR is essential for expression of genes for anaerobic p-ethylphenol and p-hydroxyacetophenone degradation in "Aromatoleum aromaticum" EbN1

Background

The denitrifying betaproteobacterium "Aromatoleum aromaticum" EbN1 anaerobically utilizes a multitude of aromatic compounds via specific peripheral degradation routes. Compound-specific formation of these catabolic modules is assumed to be mediated by specific transcriptional activators. In case of the recently elucidated p-ethylphenol/p-hydroxyacetophenone pathway, the highly substrate-specific regulation was implicated to involve the predicted σ⁵⁴-dependent, NtrC-type regulator EbA324. The latter was suggested to control the expression of the two neighboring gene clusters encoding the catabolic enzymes as well as a corresponding putative solvent efflux system. In the present study, a molecular genetic approach was used to study the predicted function of EbA324.

Results

An unmarked in frame ΔebA324 (here renamed as ΔetpR; p-ethylphenol regulator) deletion mutation was generated. The ΔetpR mutant was unable to grow anaerobically with either p-ethylphenol or p-hydroxyacetophenone. Growth similar to the wild type was restored in the ΔetpR mutant background by in trans expression of plasmid-born etpR. Furthermore, expression of the "p-ethylphenol" gene clusters as well as corresponding protein formation was shown to depend on the presence of both, EtpR and either p-ethylphenol or p-hydroxyacetophenone. In the wild type, the etpR gene appears to be constitutively expressed and its expression level not to be modulated upon effector presence. Comparison with the regulatory domains of known phenol- and alkylbenzene-responsive NtrC-type regulators of Pseudomonas spp. and Thauera aromatica allowed identifying >60 amino acid residues in the regulatory domain (in particular positions 149 to 192 of EtpR) that may contribute to the effector specificity viz. presumptively restricted effector spectrum of EtpR.

Conclusions

This study provides experimental evidence for the genome predicted σ⁵⁴-dependent regulator EtpR (formerly EbA324) of "A. aromaticum" EbN1 to be responsive to p-ethylphenol, as well as its degradation intermediate p-hydroxyacetophenone, and to control the expression of genes involved in the anaerobic degradation of these two aromatic growth substrates. Overall, the presented results advance our understanding on the regulation of anaerobic aromatic compound catabolism, foremost based on the sensory discrimination of structurally similar substrates.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12866-015-0571-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Subtilase SprP exerts pleiotropic effects in Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The open reading frame PA1242 in the genome of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 encodes a putative protease belonging to the peptidase S8 family of subtilases. The respective enzyme termed SprP consists of an N-terminal signal peptide and a so-called S8 domain linked by a domain of unknown function (DUF). Presumably, this DUF domain defines a discrete class of Pseudomonas proteins as homologous domains can be identified almost exclusively in proteins of the genus Pseudomonas. The sprP gene was expressed in Escherichia coli and proteolytic activity was demonstrated. A P. aeruginosa ΔsprP mutant was constructed and its gene expression pattern compared to the wild-type strain by genome microarray analysis revealing altered expression levels of 218 genes. Apparently, SprP is involved in regulation of a variety of different cellular processes in P. aeruginosa including pyoverdine synthesis, denitrification, the formation of cell aggregates, and of biofilms.

Tracing explosives in soil with transcriptional regulators of Pseudomonas putida evolved for responding to nitrotoluenes

Although different biological approaches for detection of anti-personnel mines and other unexploded ordnance (UXO) have been entertained, none of them has been rigorously documented thus far in the scientific literature. The industrial 2,4,6 trinitrotoluene (TNT) habitually employed in the manufacturing of mines is at all times tainted with a small but significant proportion of the more volatile 2,4 dinitrotoluene (2,4 DNT) and other nitroaromatic compounds. By using mutation-prone PCR and DNA sequence shuffling we have evolved in vitro and selected in vivo variants of the effector recognition domain of the toluene-responsive XylR regulator of the soil bacterium Pseudomonas putida that responds to mono-, bi- and trinitro substituted toluenes. Re-introduction of such variants in P. putida settled the transcriptional activity of the cognate promoters (Po and Pu) as a function of the presence of nitrotoluenes in the medium. When strains bearing transcriptional fusions to reporters with an optical output (luxAB, GFP) were spread on soil spotted with nitrotoluenes, the signal triggered by promoter activation allowed localization of the target compounds on the soil surface. Our data provide a proof of concept that non-natural transcription factors evolved to respond to nitroaromatics can be engineered in soil bacteria and inoculated on a target site to pinpoint the presence of explosives. This approach thus opens new ways to tackle this gigantic humanitarian problem.

Characterisation of the putative effector interaction site of the regulatory HbpR protein from Pseudomonas azelaica by site-directed mutagenesis

Bacterial transcription activators of the XylR/DmpR subfamily exert their expression control via σ(54)-dependent RNA polymerase upon stimulation by a chemical effector, typically an aromatic compound. Where the chemical effector interacts with the transcription regulator protein to achieve activation is still largely unknown. Here we focus on the HbpR protein from Pseudomonas azelaica, which is a member of the XylR/DmpR subfamily and responds to biaromatic effectors such as 2-hydroxybiphenyl. We use protein structure modeling to predict folding of the effector recognition domain of HbpR and molecular docking to identify the region where 2-hydroxybiphenyl may interact with HbpR. A large number of site-directed HbpR mutants of residues in- and outside the predicted interaction area was created and their potential to induce reporter gene expression in Escherichia coli from the cognate P(C) promoter upon activation with 2-hydroxybiphenyl was studied. Mutant proteins were purified to study their conformation. Critical residues for effector stimulation indeed grouped near the predicted area, some of which are conserved among XylR/DmpR subfamily members in spite of displaying different effector specificities. This suggests that they are important for the process of effector activation, but not necessarily for effector specificity recognition.

Signal sensory systems that impact σ⁵⁴ -dependent transcription

Alternative σ-factors of bacteria bind core RNA polymerase to program the specific promoter selectivity of the holoenzyme. Signal-responsive changes in the availability of different σ-factors redistribute the RNA polymerase among the distinct promoter classes in the genome for appropriate adaptive, developmental and survival responses. The σ(54) -factor is structurally and functionally distinct from all other σ-factors. Consequently, binding of σ(54) to RNA polymerase confers unique features on the cognate holoenzyme, which requires activation by an unusual class of mechano-transcriptional activators, whose activities are highly regulated in response to environmental cues. This review summarizes the current understanding of the mechanisms of transcriptional activation by σ(54) -RNA polymerase and highlights the impact of global regulatory factors on transcriptional efficiency from σ(54) -dependent promoters. These global factors include the DNA-bending proteins IHF and CRP, the nucleotide alarmone ppGpp, and the RNA polymerase-targeting protein DksA.

Diversity of the transcriptional regulation of the pch gene cluster in two indigenous p-cresol-degradative strains of Pseudomonas fluorescens

p-Cresol methylhydroxylase (PCMH), a key enzyme responsible for the catabolism of p-cresol via the protocatechuate ortho pathway, was used as a tool to characterize catabolic differences between phenol- and p-cresol-degrading Pseudomonas fluore-scens strains PC18 and PC24. Although both strains catabolize p-cresol using PCMH, different whole-cell kinetic parameters for this compound were revealed. Affinity for the substrate and the specific growth rate were higher in PC18, whereas maximum p-cresol tolerance was higher in PC24. In addition, PCMH of strain PC18 was induced during growth on phenol. In both strains, the pchACXF operon, which encodes p-hydroxybenzaldehyde dehydrogenase and PCMH, was sequenced. Transcriptional regulation of these operons by PchR, a putative sigma(54)-dependent regulator, was shown. Although the promoters of these operons resembled sigma(54)-controlled promoters, they differed from the consensus sequence by having T instead of C at position -12. Complementation assays confirmed that the amino acid sequence differences of the PchR regulators between the two strains studied led to different effector-binding capabilities of these proteins: (1) phenol was a more efficient effector for PchR of PC18 than p-cresol, (2) phenol did not activate the regulator of PC24, and (3) both regulators responded similarly to p-cresol.

Different Modes of Binding of Mono- and Biaromatic Effectors to the Transcriptional Regulator TTGV

Members of the IclR family of regulators exhibit a highly conserved effector recognition domain and interact with a limited number of effectors. In contrast with most IclR family members, TtgV, the transcriptional repressor of the TtgGHI efflux pump, exhibits multidrug recognition properties. A three-dimensional model of the effector domain of TtgV was generated based on the available three-dimensional structure of several IclR members, and a series of point mutants was created. Using isothermal titration calorimetry, we determined the binding parameters of the most efficient effectors for TtgV and its mutant variants. All mutants bound biaromatic compounds with higher affinity than the wild-type protein, whereas monoaromatic compounds were bound with lower affinity. This tendency was particularly pronounced for mutants F134A and H200A. TtgVF134A bound 4-nitrotoluene with an affinity 13-fold lower than that of TtgV (17.4+/-0.6 microM). This mutant bound 1-naphthol with an affinity of 5.7 microM, which is seven times as great as that of TtgV (40 microM). The TtgVV223A mutant bound to DNA with the same affinity as the wild-type TtgV protein, but it remained bound to the target operator in the presence of effectors, suggesting that Val-223 could be part of an intra-TtgV signal recognition pathway. Thermodynamic analyses of the binding of effectors to TtgV and to its mutants in complex with their target DNA revealed that the binding of biaromatic compounds resulted in a more efficient release of the repressor protein than the binding of monoaromatics. The physiological significance of these findings is discussed.

Transcriptional regulators à la carte: engineering new effector specificities in bacterial regulatory proteins

For many regulators of bacterial biodegradation pathways, small molecule/effector binding is the signal for triggering transcriptional activation. Thus, regulation results from a cross-talk between chemicals sensed by transcriptional factors and operon expression status. These features can be utilised in the construction of biosensors for a wide range of target compounds as, in principle, any regulatory protein whose activity is modulated by binding to a small molecule can have its effector/inducer profile artificially altered. The cognate specificities of a number of regulatory proteins have been modified as an astute approach to developing, among others, bacterial biosensors for environmentally relevant compounds.

Selection of biocatalysts for chemical synthesis

To determine whether microbial chemosensors can be used to find new or better biocatalysts, we constructed Escherichia coli hosts that recognize the product of a biocatalytic conversion through the transcriptional activator NahR and respond by expression of a lacZ or tetA reporter gene. Equipped with a benzaldehyde dehydrogenase (XylC from Pseudomonas putida), the lacZ-based host responded to the oxidation of benzaldehyde and 2-hydroxybenzaldehyde to the corresponding benzoic acids by forming blue colonies, whereas XylC- cells did not. Similarly, the tetA-based host was able to grow under selective conditions only when equipped with XylC, enabling selection of biocatalytically active cells in inactive populations at frequencies as low as 10(-6).

Design of new promoters and of a dual-bioreporter based on cross-activation by the two regulatory proteins XylR and HbpR

The HbpR protein is the sigma54-dependent transcription activator for 2-hydroxybiphenyl degradation in Pseudomonas azelaica. The ability of HbpR and XylR, which share 35% amino acid sequence identity, to cross-activate the PhbpC and Pu promoters was investigated by determining HbpR- or XylR-mediated luciferase expression and by DNA binding assays. XylR measurably activated the PhbpC promoter in the presence of the effector m-xylene, both in Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas putida. HbpR weakly stimulated the Pu promoter in E. coli but not in P. azelaica. Poor HbpR-dependent activation from Pu was caused by a weak binding to the operator region. To create promoters efficiently activated by both regulators, the HbpR binding sites on PhbpC were gradually changed into the XylR binding sites of Pu by site-directed mutagenesis. Inducible luciferase expression from mutated promoters was tested in E. coli on a two plasmid system, and from mono copy gene fusions in P. azelaica and P. putida. Some mutants were efficiently activated by both HbpR and XylR, showing that promoters can be created which are permissive for both regulators. Others achieved a higher XylR-dependent transcription than from Pu itself. Mutants were also obtained which displayed a tenfold lower uninduced expression level by HbpR than the wild-type PhbpC, while keeping the same maximal induction level. On the basis of these results, a dual-responsive bioreporter strain of P. azelaica was created, containing both XylR and HbpR, and activating luciferase expression from the same single promoter independently with m-xylene and 2-hydroxybiphenyl.

Illuminating the detection chain of bacterial bioreporters

Engineering bacteria for measuring chemicals of environmental or toxicological concern (bioreporter bacteria) has grown slowly into a mature research area. Despite many potential advantages, current bioreporters do not perform well enough to comply with environmental detection standards. Basically, the reasons for this are the lack of engineering principles in the detection chain in the bioreporters. Here, we dissect critical steps in the detection chain and illustrate how bioreporter design could be improved by mutagenizing specificity and selectivity of the sensing and regulatory proteins, by newer expression strategies and application of different signalling networks. Furthermore, we describe how redesigning bioreporter assays with respect to pollutant transport into the cells and application of other detection devices can decrease detection limits and increase the speed of detection.

Bacterial transcriptional regulators for degradation pathways of aromatic compounds

Human activities have resulted in the release and introduction into the environment of a plethora of aromatic chemicals. The interest in discovering how bacteria are dealing with hazardous environmental pollutants has driven a large research community and has resulted in important biochemical, genetic, and physiological knowledge about the degradation capacities of microorganisms and their application in bioremediation, green chemistry, or production of pharmacy synthons. In addition, regulation of catabolic pathway expression has attracted the interest of numerous different groups, and several catabolic pathway regulators have been exemplary for understanding transcription control mechanisms. More recently, information about regulatory systems has been used to construct whole-cell living bioreporters that are used to measure the quality of the aqueous, soil, and air environment. The topic of biodegradation is relatively coherent, and this review presents a coherent overview of the regulatory systems involved in the transcriptional control of catabolic pathways. This review summarizes the different regulatory systems involved in biodegradation pathways of aromatic compounds linking them to other known protein families. Specific attention has been paid to describing the genetic organization of the regulatory genes, promoters, and target operon(s) and to discussing present knowledge about signaling molecules, DNA binding properties, and operator characteristics, and evidence from regulatory mutants. For each regulator family, this information is combined with recently obtained protein structural information to arrive at a possible mechanism of transcription activation. This demonstrates the diversity of control mechanisms existing in catabolic pathways.

Expression of the nitroarene dioxygenase genes in Comamonas sp. strain JS765 and Acidovorax sp. strain JS42 is induced by multiple aromatic compounds

This work reports a genetic analysis of the expression of nitrobenzene dioxygenase (NBDO) in Comamonas sp. strain JS765 and 2-nitrotoluene dioxygenase (2NTDO) in Acidovorax sp. strain JS42. Strains JS765 and JS42 possess identical LysR-type regulatory proteins, NbzR and NtdR, respectively. NbzR/NtdR is homologous to NahR, the positive salicylate-responsive transcriptional activator of the naphthalene degradation genes in Pseudomonas putida G7. The genes encoding NBDO and 2NTDO in each strain are cotranscribed, and transcription starts at the same site within identical promoter regions for each operon. Results from a lacZ reporter gene fusion demonstrated that expression of NBDO and 2NTDO is induced by multiple aromatic compounds, including an array of nitroaromatic compounds (nitrobenzene, 2-, 3-, and 4-nitrotoluene, 2,4- and 2,6-dinitrotoluene, and aminodinitrotoluenes), as well as salicylate and anthranilate. The nitroaromatic compounds appear to be the actual effector molecules. Analysis of beta-galactosidase and 2NTDO activities with strain JS42 demonstrated that NtdR was required for induction by all of the inducing compounds, high basal-level expression of 2NTDO, and complementation of a JS42 ntdR null mutant. Complementation with the closely related regulators NagR (from Ralstonia sp. strain U2) and NahR restored only induction by the archetype inducers, salicylate or salicylate and anthranilate, respectively, and did not restore the high basal level of expression of 2NTDO. The mechanism of 2NTDO gene regulation in JS42, and presumably that of NBDO gene regulation in JS765, appear similar to that of NahR-regulated genes in Pseudomonas putida G7. However, NbzR and NtdR appear to have evolved a broader specificity in JS42 and JS765, allowing for recognition of nitroaromatic compounds while retaining the ability to respond to salicylate and anthranilate. NtdR is also the first example of a nitroarene-responsive LysR-type transcriptional activator.

Deciphering the action of aromatic effectors on the prokaryotic enhancer-binding protein XylR: a structural model of its N-terminal domain

The prokaryotic enhancer-binding protein XylR is the central regulator of the toluene degradation pathway in Pseudomonas species. Copious genetic and biochemical data indicate that the N-terminal domain of the protein (domain A) interacts directly with m-xylene, which renders the protein competent as a transcriptional activator. Single-site and shuffling mutants of XylR or homologues have been reported to change or expand their effector profiles. Here, we follow a fold recognition approach to generate three-dimensional models of the domain A of XylR and DmpR with the purpose of deciphering the molecular activity of this protein family. The model is based on the crystallographic data of the rat catechol O-methyltransferase, a typical alpha/beta fold, consisting of eight alpha-helices and seven beta-strands. The fold identification is supported by physico-chemical properties of conserved amino acids, distribution of residues characteristic of the sequence families and confrontation with experimental data. The model not only provides a rationale for understanding published experimental data, but also suggests the molecular mechanism of the activation step and is a potentially useful conceptual tool for designing regulators with predefined inducer specificities.

A la carte transcriptional regulators: unlocking responses of the prokaryotic enhancer-binding protein XylR to non-natural effectors

To investigate the activation mechanism of the enhancer-binding protein XylR encoded by the TOL plasmid of Pseudomonas putida mt-2, a combinatorial library was generated composed of shuffled N-terminal A domains of the homologous regulators DmpR, XylR and TbuT, reassembled within the XylR structure. When the library was screened in vivo for responsiveness to non-effectors bulkier than one aromatic ring (such as biphenyl) or bearing an entirely different distribution of electronegative groups (e.g. nitrotoluenes), protein variants were found that displayed an expanded inducer range including the new effectors. Although the phenotypes endowed with the corresponding changes were largely similar, the modifications involved different sites within the A domain. The positions of the mutations within a structural model of the A domain suggest that expansion of the inducer profile can be brought about not only by changes in the effector pocket of the protein but also by unlocking steps of the signal transmission mechanism that follows effector binding. These results provide a rationale for evolving in vitro regulators à la carte that are responsive to predetermined, natural or xenobiotic chemical species.

The role of the interdomain B linker in the activation of the XylR protein of Pseudomonas putida

In the presence of toluene and other structural analogues, the enhancer binding protein XylR activates the sigma54 promoter Pu of the TOL (toluene degradation) plasmid pWW0 of Pseudomonas putida. Introduction of amino acid changes Val-219Asp and Ala-220Pro, which enter a proline kink at the interdomain region (B linker) between the A (signal reception) module and the central portion of XylR, originated a protein with unforeseen properties. These included a minor ability to activate Pu in the absence of aromatic effectors, a much higher responsiveness to m-xylene and a significant response to a large collection of aromatic inducers. Such changes could not be attributed to variations in XylR expression levels or to the fortuitous creation of a novel promoter, but to a genuine change in the properties of the activator. Structural predictions suggested that the mutation entirely disrupted an otherwise probable coiled-coil structure. A second directed mutant within the same region consisting of a major replacement of amino acids A220-N221 by the peptide HHHR produced an even more exacerbated phenotype. These data support a model in which the linker B region influences the effector profile by modifying at a distance the operative shape of the effector pocket and fixing the protein in an intermediate step of the activation process.

HbpR, a new member of the XylR/DmpR subclass within the NtrC family of bacterial transcriptional activators, regulates expression of 2-hydroxybiphenyl metabolism in Pseudomonas azelaica HBP1

The regulation of 2-hydroxybiphenyl and 2,2'-dihydroxybiphenyl degradation in Pseudomonas azelaica is mediated by the regulatory gene, hbpR. The hbpR gene encodes a 63-kDa protein belonging to the NtrC family of prokaryotic transcriptional activators and having the highest homology to members of the XylR/DmpR subclass. Disruption of the hbpR gene in P. azelaica and complementation in trans showed that the HbpR protein was the key regulator for 2-hydroxybiphenyl metabolism. Induction experiments with P. azelaica and Escherichia coli containing luxAB-based transcriptional fusions revealed that HbpR activates transcription from a promoter (P(hbpC)) in front of the first gene for 2-hydroxybiphenyl degradation, hbpC, and that 2-hydroxybiphenyl itself is the direct effector for HbpR-mediated activation. Of several compounds tested, only the pathway substrates 2-hydroxybiphenyl and 2,2'-dihydroxybiphenyl and structural analogs like 2-aminobiphenyl and 2-hydroxybiphenylmethane were effectors for HbpR activation. HbpR is therefore, to our knowledge, the first regulator of the XylR/DmpR class that recognizes biaromatic but not monoaromatic structures. Analysis of a spontaneously occurring mutant, P. azelaica HBP1 Prp, which can grow with the non-wild-type effector 2-propylphenol, revealed a single mutation in the hbpR gene (T613C) leading to a Trp-->Arg substitution at amino acid residue 205. P. azelaica HBP1 derivative strains without a functional hbpR gene constitutively expressed the genes for 2-hydroxybiphenyl degradation when complemented in trans with the hbpR-T613C gene. This suggests the importance of this residue, which is conserved among all members of the XylR/DmpR subclass, for interdomain repression.

Generation of novel bacterial regulatory proteins that detect priority pollutant phenols

The genetic systems of bacteria that have the ability to use organic pollutants as carbon and energy sources can be adapted to create bacterial biosensors for the detection of industrial pollution. The creation of bacterial biosensors is hampered by a lack of information about the genetic systems that control production of bacterial enzymes that metabolize pollutants. We have attempted to overcome this problem through modification of DmpR, a regulatory protein for the phenol degradation pathway of Pseudomonas sp. strain CF600. The phenol detection capacity of DmpR was altered by using mutagenic PCR targeted to the DmpR sensor domain. DmpR mutants were identified that both increased sensitivity to the phenolic effectors of wild-type DmpR and increased the range of molecules detected. The phenol detection characteristics of seven DmpR mutants were demonstrated through their ability to activate transcription of a lacZ reporter gene. Effectors of the DmpR derivatives included phenol, 2-chlorophenol, 2,4-dichlorophenol, 4-chloro-3-methylphenol, 2,4-dimethylphenol, 2-nitrophenol, and 4-nitrophenol.

Novel effector control through modulation of a preexisting binding site of the aromatic-responsive sigma(54)-dependent regulator DmpR

The Pseudomonas derived sigma(54)-dependent DmpR activator regulates transcription of the (methyl)phenol catabolic dmp-operon. DmpR is constitutively expressed, but its transcriptional promoting activity is positively controlled in direct response to the presence of multiple aromatic effectors. Previous work has led to a model in which effector binding by the amino-terminal region of the protein relieves repression of an intrinsic ATPase activity essential for its transcriptional promoting property. Here, we address whether the observed differences in the potencies of the multiple effectors (i) reside at the level of different aromatic binding sites, or (ii) are mediated through differential binding affinities; furthermore, we address whether binding of distinct aromatic effectors has different functional consequences for DmpR activity. These questions were addressed by comparing wild type and an effector specificity mutant of DmpR with respect to effector binding characteristics and the ability of aromatics to elicit ATPase activity and transcription. The results demonstrate that six test aromatics all share a common binding site on DmpR and that binding affinities determine the concentration at which DmpR responds to the presence of the effector, but not the magnitude of the responses. Interestingly, this analysis reveals that the novel abilities of the effector specificity mutant are not primarily due to acquisition of new binding abilities, but rather, they reside in being able to productively couple ATPase activity to transcriptional activation. The mechanistic implications of these findings in terms of aromatic control of DmpR activity are discussed.