This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Watson, N Articles by Olson, E R Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Watson, N Articles by Olson, E R

research-article

Identification of elements involved in transcriptional regulation of the Escherichia coli cad operon by external pH.

Department of Molecular Biology, Upjohn Company, Kalamazoo, Michigan 49001.

ABSTRACT

Expression of the lysine decarboxylase gene (cadA) of Escherichia coli is induced upon external acidification. To dissect the molecular mechanisms responsible for this regulation, we analyzed a 4.2-kbp region upstream from cadA. DNA sequencing revealed two long open reading frames upstream of and on the same strand as cadA. One of these, cadB, is 444 codons long and is situated immediately upstream of cadA. Transcriptional fusions between fragments upstream of cadA and lacZ, Northern (RNA) hybridization, primer extension, and site-directed mutagenesis experiments defined a promoter, Pcad, upstream of cadB that was responsible for pH-regulated expression of cadA. Upstream of Pcad is an open reading frame, cadC, consisting of 512 codons. The predicted amino terminal region of the cadC gene product (CadC) resembles the carboxy-terminal domain of prokaryotic transcriptional activators involved in environmental sensing. Tn10 insertions within or immediately upstream of cadC abolished Pcad activity, suggesting that cadC encodes a positive transcription factor. Expression of plasmid-borne cadC in the Tn10 mutants restored Pcad activity, while introduction of a plasmid expressing truncated CadC resulted in the inability to complement. The presence of Pcad on a multicopy plasmid was found to lower expression arising from chromosomal Pcad, suggesting that a positive-acting factor is limiting. Our data suggests that cadA, cadB, and the acid-inducible Pcad comprise, at least in part, the cad operon which is under control of the cadC product.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Lee, Y. H., Kim, J. H., Bang, I. S., Park, Y. K. (2008). The Membrane-Bound Transcriptional Regulator CadC Is Activated by Proteolytic Cleavage in Response to Acid Stress. J. Bacteriol. 190: 5120-5126 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Higashi, K., Ishigure, H., Demizu, R., Uemura, T., Nishino, K., Yamaguchi, A., Kashiwagi, K., Igarashi, K. (2008). Identification of a Spermidine Excretion Protein Complex (MdtJI) in Escherichia coli. J. Bacteriol. 190: 872-878 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Moreau, P. L. (2007). The Lysine Decarboxylase CadA Protects Escherichia coli Starved of Phosphate against Fermentation Acids. J. Bacteriol. 189: 2249-2261 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Lee, Y. H., Kim, B. H., Kim, J. H., Yoon, W. S., Bang, S. H., Park, Y. K. (2007). CadC Has a Global Translational Effect during Acid Adaptation in Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium. J. Bacteriol. 189: 2417-2425 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Soksawatmaekhin, W., Uemura, T., Fukiwake, N., Kashiwagi, K., Igarashi, K. (2006). Identification of the Cadaverine Recognition Site on the Cadaverine-Lysine Antiporter CadB. J. Biol. Chem. 281: 29213-29220 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Rhee, J. E., Jeong, H. G., Lee, J. H., Choi, S. H. (2006). AphB Influences Acid Tolerance of Vibrio vulnificus by Activating Expression of the Positive Regulator CadC.. J. Bacteriol. 188: 6490-6497 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Stelzer, S., Egan, S., Larsen, M. R., Bartlett, D. H., Kjelleberg, S. (2006). Unravelling the role of the ToxR-like transcriptional regulator WmpR in the marine antifouling bacterium Pseudoalteromonas tunicata.. Microbiology 152: 1385-1394 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Bower, J. M., Mulvey, M. A. (2006). Polyamine-Mediated Resistance of Uropathogenic Escherichia coli to Nitrosative Stress. J. Bacteriol. 188: 928-933 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Snider, J., Gutsche, I., Lin, M., Baby, S., Cox, B., Butland, G., Greenblatt, J., Emili, A., Houry, W. A. (2006). Formation of a Distinctive Complex between the Inducible Bacterial Lysine Decarboxylase and a Novel AAA+ ATPase. J. Biol. Chem. 281: 1532-1546 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Rhee, J. E., Kim, K.-S., Choi, S. H. (2005). CadC Activates pH-Dependent Expression of the Vibrio vulnificus cadBA Operon at a Distance through Direct Binding to an Upstream Region. J. Bacteriol. 187: 7870-7875 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Yohannes, E., Barnhart, D. M., Slonczewski, J. L. (2004). pH-Dependent Catabolic Protein Expression during Anaerobic Growth of Escherichia coli K-12. J. Bacteriol. 186: 192-199 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Iyer, R., Williams, C., Miller, C. (2003). Arginine-Agmatine Antiporter in Extreme Acid Resistance in Escherichia coli. J. Bacteriol. 185: 6556-6561 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Casalino, M., Latella, M. C., Prosseda, G., Colonna, B. (2003). CadC Is the Preferential Target of a Convergent Evolution Driving Enteroinvasive Escherichia coli toward a Lysine Decarboxylase-Defective Phenotype. Infect. Immun. 71: 5472-5479 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Pruss, B. M., Campbell, J. W., Van Dyk, T. K., Zhu, C., Kogan, Y., Matsumura, P. (2003). FlhD/FlhC Is a Regulator of Anaerobic Respiration and the Entner-Doudoroff Pathway through Induction of the Methyl-Accepting Chemotaxis Protein Aer. J. Bacteriol. 185: 534-543 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Egan, S., James, S., Kjelleberg, S. (2002). Identification and Characterization of a Putative Transcriptional Regulator Controlling the Expression of Fouling Inhibitors in Pseudoalteromonas tunicata. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 68: 372-378 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Merrell, D. S., Camilli, A. (2000). Regulation of Vibrio cholerae Genes Required for Acid Tolerance by a Member of the "ToxR-Like" Family of Transcriptional Regulators. J. Bacteriol. 182: 5342-5350 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Ibañez, E., Campos, E., Baldoma, L., Aguilar, J., Badia, J. (2000). Regulation of Expression of the yiaKLMNOPQRS Operon for Carbohydrate Utilization in Escherichia coli: Involvement of the Main Transcriptional Factors. J. Bacteriol. 182: 4617-4624 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Riccillo, P. M., Muglia, C. I., de Bruijn, F. J., Roe, A. J., Booth, I. R., Aguilar, O. M. (2000). Glutathione Is Involved in Environmental Stress Responses in Rhizobium tropici, Including Acid Tolerance. J. Bacteriol. 182: 1748-1753 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Richmond, C. S., Glasner, J. D., Mau, R., Jin, H., Blattner, F. R. (1999). Genome-wide expression profiling in Escherichia coli K-12. Nucleic Acids Res 27: 3821-3835 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Normark, S. (1999). The Acid-Inducible asr Gene in Escherichia coli: Transcriptional Control by the phoBR Operon. J. Bacteriol. 181: 2084-2093 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Samartzidou, H., Delcour, A. H. (1999). Excretion of Endogenous Cadaverine Leads to a Decrease in Porin-Mediated Outer Membrane Permeability. J. Bacteriol. 181: 791-798 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Blanc-Potard, A.-B., Solomon, F., Kayser, J., Groisman, E. A. (1999). The SPI-3 Pathogenicity Island of Salmonella enterica. J. Bacteriol. 181: 998-1004 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Berlyn, M. K. B. (1998). Linkage Map of Escherichia coli K-12, Edition 10: The Traditional Map. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 62: 814-984 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Crawford, M. J., Goldberg, D. E. (1998). Role for the Salmonella Flavohemoglobin in Protection from Nitric Oxide. J. Biol. Chem. 273: 12543-12547 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Heithoff, D. M., Conner, C. P., Hanna, P. C., Julio, S. M., Hentschel, U., Mahan, M. J. (1997). Bacterial infection as assessed by in vivo gene expression. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94: 934-939 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Rietsch, A., Belin, D., Martin, N., Beckwith, J. (1996). An in vivo pathway for disulfide bond isomerization in Escherichia coli. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 93: 13048-13053 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Brevet, A., Chen, J., Lévque, F., Blanquet, S., Plateau, P. (1995). Comparison of the Enzymatic Properties of the Two Escherichia coli Lysyl-tRNA Synthetase Species. J. Biol. Chem. 270: 14439-14444 [Abstract] [Full Text]