Journal of Bacteriology, January 2000, p. 14-22, Vol. 182, No. 1
0021-9193/0/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Institut für Mikrobiologie, Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule, CH-8092 Zürich, Switzerland
Received 11 August 1999/Accepted 6 October 1999
A large number of bacteria regulate chaperone gene expression by
the CIRCE-HrcA system in which a DNA element called CIRCE serves as
binding site for the repressor protein HrcA under non-heat-shock conditions. We have cloned the two consecutive genes hrcA
and grpE of Bradyrhizobium japonicum by using a
complementation approach that screened for GrpE function. In vivo and
in vitro transcript mapping demonstrated that both genes are
transcribed separately from RpoH (
32)-dependent
promoters. To investigate the supposed negative regulatory function of
HrcA, we compared the expression of putative target genes in the wild
type with that in an hrcA mutant. Transcription of the
CIRCE-associated chaperonin operons groESL4 and
groESL5, as well as the
-galactosidase
activity derived from corresponding groE-lacZ fusions, was
strongly elevated in the hrcA mutant even at physiological
temperatures. Expression of other heat shock regulons (RpoH or ROSE
dependent) was not affected. To study the activity of HrcA in vitro, we
purified a histidine-tagged version of the protein under nondenaturing
conditions. Specific binding to the CIRCE element was obtained with a
soluble fraction of HrcA in gel retardation experiments.
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