JB
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
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 Kinnear, S. M.
Right arrow Articles by Carbonetti, N. H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Kinnear, S. M.
Right arrow Articles by Carbonetti, N. H.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, September 1999, p. 5234-5241, Vol. 181, No. 17
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Analysis of BvgA Activation of the Pertactin Gene Promoter in Bordetella pertussis

Susan M. Kinnear,1 Philip E. Boucher,2 Scott Stibitz,2 and Nicholas H. Carbonetti1,*

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland 21201,1 and Division of Bacterial Products, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Bethesda, Maryland 208922

Received 29 March 1999/Accepted 25 June 1999

Bordetella pertussis, the causative agent of whooping cough, regulates expression of its virulence factors via a two-component signal transduction system encoded by the bvg regulatory locus. It has been shown by activation kinetics that several of the virulence factors are differentially regulated. fha is transcribed at 10 min following an inducing signal, while ptx is not transcribed until 2 to 4 h after the inducing signal. We present data indicating that prn is transcribed at 1 h, an intermediate time compared to those of fha and ptx. We have identified cis-acting sequences necessary for expression of prn in B. pertussis by using prn-lac fusions containing alterations in the sequence upstream of the prn open reading frame. In vitro transcription and DNase I footprinting analyses provided evidence to support our hypothesis that BvgA binds to this sequence upstream of prn to activate transcription from the promoter. Our genetic data indicate that the region critical for prn activation extends upstream to position -84. However, these data do not support the location of the prn transcription start site as previously published. We used a number of methods, including prn-lac fusions, reverse transcriptase PCR, and 5' rapid amplification of cDNA ends, to localize and identify the bvg-dependent 5' end of the prn transcript to the cytosine at -125 with respect to the published start site.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: University Of Maryland School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, BRB 13-009, 655 W. Baltimore St., Baltimore, MD 21201-1559. Phone: (410) 706-7677. Fax: (410) 706-2129. E-mail: ncarbone{at}umaryland.edu.

Journal of Bacteriology, September 1999, p. 5234-5241, Vol. 181, No. 17
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
Appl. Environ. Microbiol. Infect. Immun. Eukaryot. Cell
Mol. Cell. Biol. J. Virol. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev.
ALL ASM JOURNALS

Copyright © 1999 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.