This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Verma, A.
Right arrow Articles by Tyagi, J. S.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Verma, A.
Right arrow Articles by Tyagi, J. S.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, July 1999, p. 4326-4333, Vol. 181, No. 14
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis rrn Promoters: Differential Usage and Growth Rate-Dependent Control

Anita Verma,dagger Avinash K. Sampla, and Jaya Sivaswami Tyagi*

Department of Biotechnology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110 029, India

Received 30 November 1998/Accepted 3 May 1999

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a slow-growing pathogen and is characterized by a low content of RNA per unit of DNA. rRNAs represent a major proportion of the total RNA pool, and the entire requirement for rRNA is met by transcription from a single rrn operon that is driven by two promoters, P1 and P3. This study attempted to analyze the specific role of the rrn promoter in determining the characteristically low levels of RNA in M. tuberculosis. For this purpose, the activity of the M. tuberculosis rrn promoter as a function of the growth rate was studied by rrn-lacZ promoter fusion, hybridization, and primer extension analysis in M. smegmatis. rrn promoter signals were faithfully recognized in M. smegmatis cultures harboring the rrn-lacZ promoter construct. In M. smegmatis cultures that displayed doubling times varying between 3.06 and 6.5 h, beta -galactosidase activity increased ~sixfold in proportion to the growth rate (µ). There was a corresponding increase in the amount of lacZ-specific mRNA, while the plasmid copy number remained essentially unchanged. For any given µ, the P3 promoter was ~twofold more efficiently utilized than the P1 promoter. Since both promoters of the M. tuberculosis rrn operon are regulatable as a function of growth rate in M. smegmatis cultures, it is implied that the inherent structure or sequence of the rrn promoter per se is not primarily responsible for the observed lack of modulation of RNA synthesis in M. tuberculosis.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biotechnology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110 029, India. Phone: 91-11-6524491. Fax: 91-11-6862663. E-mail: jst{at}aiims.ernet.in or jstyagi{at}hotmail.com.

dagger Present address: Department of Medical Biochemistry & Genetics, Texas A&M University College of Medicine, College Station, TX 77843-1114.

Journal of Bacteriology, July 1999, p. 4326-4333, Vol. 181, No. 14
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Cox, R. A. (2007). A scheme for the analysis of microarray measurements based on a quantitative theoretical framework for bacterial cell growth: application to studies of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Microbiology 153: 3337-3349 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Bagchi, G., Chauhan, S., Sharma, D., Tyagi, J. S. (2005). Transcription and autoregulation of the Rv3134c-devR-devS operon of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Microbiology 151: 4045-4053 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Blokpoel, M. C. J., Smeulders, M. J., Hubbard, J. A. M., Keer, J., Williams, H. D. (2005). Global Analysis of Proteins Synthesized by Mycobacterium smegmatis Provides Direct Evidence for Physiological Heterogeneity in Stationary-Phase Cultures. J. Bacteriol. 187: 6691-6700 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Beste, D. J. V., Peters, J., Hooper, T., Avignone-Rossa, C., Bushell, M. E., McFadden, J. (2005). Compiling a Molecular Inventory for Mycobacterium bovis BCG at Two Growth Rates: Evidence for Growth Rate-Mediated Regulation of Ribosome Biosynthesis and Lipid Metabolism. J. Bacteriol. 187: 1677-1684 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Arnvig, K. B., Gopal, B., Papavinasasundaram, K. G., Cox, R. A., Colston, M. J. (2005). The mechanism of upstream activation in the rrnB operon of Mycobacterium smegmatis is different from the Escherichia coli paradigm. Microbiology 151: 467-473 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Menendez, M. d. C., Rebollo, M. J., Nunez, M. d. C., Cox, R. A., Garcia, M. J. (2005). Analysis of the Precursor rRNA Fractions of Rapidly Growing Mycobacteria: Quantification by Methods That Include the Use of a Promoter (rrnA P1) as a Novel Standard. J. Bacteriol. 187: 534-543 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Cox, R. A. (2004). Quantitative relationships for specific growth rates and macromolecular compositions of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) and Escherichia coli B/r: an integrative theoretical approach. Microbiology 150: 1413-1426 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Bigi, F., Alito, A., Romano, M. I., Zumarraga, M., Caimi, K., Cataldi, A. (2000). The gene encoding P27 lipoprotein and a putative antibiotic-resistance gene form an operon in Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Mycobacterium bovis. Microbiology 146: 1011-1018 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»