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 Hu, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Coates, A. R. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Hu, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Coates, A. R. M.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, March 1999, p. 1380-1387, Vol. 181, No. 5
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Transcription of the Stationary-Phase-Associated hspX Gene of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Is Inversely Related to Synthesis of the 16-Kilodalton Protein

Yanmin Hu and Anthony R. M. Coates*

Department of Medical Microbiology, St. George's Hospital Medical School, London SW17 ORE, United Kingdom

Received 28 September 1998/Accepted 14 December 1998

The 16-kDa protein, an alpha -crystallin homologue, is one of the most abundant proteins in stationary-phase Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Here, transcription and translation of the hspX gene, which encodes the 16-kDa protein, have been investigated by Northern blotting analysis, primer extension, and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with a microaerophilic stationary-phase model. Two transcripts of about 2.5 and 1.1 kb were demonstrated by Northern blot analysis and hybridized to the hspX gene probe. Primer extension analysis revealed that the transcription start site is located 33 nucleotides upstream of the hspX gene start codon. The cellular level of the hspX mRNA was maximum in log-phase bacilli and was markedly reduced after 20 days in unagitated culture, when the organisms had entered the stationary phase. A third transcript of 0.5 kb was detected 0.6 kb downstream of the hspX gene; this transcript has a transcriptional pattern completely different from that of the 1.1- and 2.5-kb products, suggesting that there may be another gene in this region. In contrast to the high level of hspX mRNA in log-phase bacilli, 16-kDa protein synthesis was low in log-phase bacteria and rose to its maximum after 20 days. In both log-phase and stationary-phase bacteria the mRNA was unstable, with a half-life of 2 min, which indicated that the transcript stability was growth rate independent and not a general means for controlling the gene expression. However, the cellular content of 16-kDa protein, while low in log-phase bacteria, rose to a maximum at 10 days and remained at this high level for up to 50 days, which indicates that this protein is a stable molecule with a low turnover rate. These data suggest that the regulation of hspX expression during entry into and maintenance of stationary phase involves translation initiation efficiency and protein stability as potential mechanisms.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Medical Microbiology, St. George's Hospital Medical School, London SW17 ORE, United Kingdom. Phone: 44 (181) 725 5725. Fax: 44 (181) 672 0234. E-mail: acoates{at}sghms.ac.uk.

Journal of Bacteriology, March 1999, p. 1380-1387, Vol. 181, No. 5
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Vasudeva-Rao, H. M., McDonough, K. A. (2008). Expression of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis acr-Coregulated Genes from the DevR (DosR) Regulon Is Controlled by Multiple Levels of Regulation. Infect. Immun. 76: 2478-2489 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Sireci, G., Dieli, F., Di Liberto, D., Buccheri, S., La Manna, M. P., Scarpa, F., Macaluso, P., Romano, A., Titone, L., Di Carlo, P., Singh, M., Ivanyi, J., Salerno, A. (2007). Anti-16-Kilodalton Mycobacterial Protein Immunoglobulin M Levels in Healthy but Purified Protein Derivative-Reactive Children Decrease after Chemoprophylaxis. CVI 14: 1231-1234 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Kashino, S. S., Ovendale, P., Izzo, A., Campos-Neto, A. (2006). Unique model of dormant infection for tuberculosis vaccine development.. CVI 13: 1014-1021 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hu, Y., Movahedzadeh, F., Stoker, N. G., Coates, A. R. M. (2006). Deletion of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis {alpha}-Crystallin-Like hspX Gene Causes Increased Bacterial Growth In Vivo. Infect. Immun. 74: 861-868 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Demissie, A., Leyten, E. M. S., Abebe, M., Wassie, L., Aseffa, A., Abate, G., Fletcher, H., Owiafe, P., Hill, P. C., Brookes, R., Rook, G., Zumla, A., Arend, S. M., Klein, M., Ottenhoff, T. H. M., Andersen, P., Doherty, T. M., the VACSEL Study Group, (2006). Recognition of Stage-Specific Mycobacterial Antigens Differentiates between Acute and Latent Infections with Mycobacterium tuberculosis. CVI 13: 179-186 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Dahl, J. L., Arora, K., Boshoff, H. I., Whiteford, D. C., Pacheco, S. A., Walsh, O. J., Lau-Bonilla, D., Davis, W. B., Garza, A. G. (2005). The relA Homolog of Mycobacterium smegmatis Affects Cell Appearance, Viability, and Gene Expression. J. Bacteriol. 187: 2439-2447 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Talaat, A. M., Howard, S. T., Hale IV, W., Lyons, R., Garner, H., Johnston, S. A. (2002). Genomic DNA standards for gene expression profiling in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Nucleic Acids Res 30: e104-e104 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Benoit, S., Benachour, A., Taouji, S., Auffray, Y., Hartke, A. (2002). H2O2, Which Causes Macrophage-Related Stress, Triggers Induction of Expression of Virulence-Associated Plasmid Determinants in Rhodococcus equi. Infect. Immun. 70: 3768-3776 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Dubnau, E., Fontan, P., Manganelli, R., Soares-Appel, S., Smith, I. (2002). Mycobacterium tuberculosis Genes Induced during Infection of Human Macrophages. Infect. Immun. 70: 2787-2795 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Purkayastha, A., McCue, L. A., McDonough, K. A. (2002). Identification of a Mycobacterium tuberculosis Putative Classical Nitroreductase Gene Whose Expression Is Coregulated with That of the acr Gene within Macrophages, in Standing versus Shaking Cultures, and under Low Oxygen Conditions. Infect. Immun. 70: 1518-1529 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • DesJardin, L. E., Hayes, L. G., Sohaskey, C. D., Wayne, L. G., Eisenach, K. D. (2001). Microaerophilic Induction of the Alpha-Crystallin Chaperone Protein Homologue (hspX) mRNA of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. J. Bacteriol. 183: 5311-5316 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Florczyk, M. A., McCue, L. A., Stack, R. F., Hauer, C. R., McDonough, K. A. (2001). Identification and Characterization of Mycobacterial Proteins Differentially Expressed under Standing and Shaking Culture Conditions, Including Rv2623 from a Novel Class of Putative ATP-Binding Proteins. Infect. Immun. 69: 5777-5785 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Boon, C., Li, R., Qi, R., Dick, T. (2001). Proteins of Mycobacterium bovis BCG Induced in the Wayne Dormancy Model. J. Bacteriol. 183: 2672-2676 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Keer, J., Smeulders, M. J., Williams, H. D. (2001). A purF mutant of Mycobacterium smegmatis has impaired survival during oxygen-starved stationary phase. Microbiology 147: 473-481 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Hu, Y., Mangan, J. A., Dhillon, J., Sole, K. M., Mitchison, D. A., Butcher, P. D., Coates, A. R. M. (2000). Detection of mRNA Transcripts and Active Transcription in Persistent Mycobacterium tuberculosis Induced by Exposure to Rifampin or Pyrazinamide. J. Bacteriol. 182: 6358-6365 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Keer, J., Smeulders, M. J., Gray, K. M., Williams, H. D. (2000). Mutants of Mycobacterium smegmatis impaired in stationary-phase survival. Microbiology 146: 2209-2217 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Manabe, Y. C., Chen, J. M., Ko, C. G., Chen, P., Bishai, W. R. (1999). Conditional Sigma Factor Expression, Using the Inducible Acetamidase Promoter, Reveals that the Mycobacterium tuberculosis sigF Gene Modulates Expression of the 16-Kilodalton Alpha-Crystallin Homologue. J. Bacteriol. 181: 7629-7633 [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»