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J. Bacteriol., Jan 1998, 136-142, Vol 180, No. 1
Y Zhao and SB Melville
Three promoter sites (P1, P2, and P3) responsible for the sporulation-
associated synthesis of Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin, a common cause
of food poisoning in humans and animals, were identified. Nested and
internal deletions of the cpe promoter region were made to narrow down the
location of promoter elements. To measure the effects of the deletions on
the expression of cpe, translational fusions containing the promoter
deletions were made with the gusA gene of Escherichia coli, which codes for
beta-glucuronidase; E. coli-C. perfringens shuttle vectors carrying the
fusions were introduced into C. perfringens by electroporation. In
addition, in vitro transcription assays were performed with the cpe
promoter region as the DNA template for extracts made from sporulating
cells. DNA sequences upstream of P1 were similar to consensus
SigK-dependent promoters, while P2 and P3 were similar to consensus
SigE-dependent promoters. SigE and SigK are sporulation-associated sigma
factors known to be active in the mother cell compartment of sporulating
cells of Bacillus subtilis, the same compartment in which enterotoxin is
synthesized in C. perfringens.
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology
Identification and characterization of sporulation-dependent promoters upstream of the enterotoxin gene (cpe) of Clostridium perfringens [In Process Citation]
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Tennessee, Memphis 38163, USA.
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