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Journal of Bacteriology, April 2000, p. 1802-1811, Vol. 182, No. 7
0021-9193/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Characterization of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis iniBAC Promoter, a Promoter That Responds to Cell Wall Biosynthesis Inhibition

David Alland,1,* Andries J. Steyn,2,dagger Torin Weisbrod,2 Kate Aldrich,1 and William R. Jacobs Jr.2

Division of Infectious Diseases, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York 10467,1 and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York 104612

Received 11 October 1999/Accepted 22 December 1999

The cell wall provides an attractive target for antibiotics against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Agents such as isoniazid and ethambutol that work by inhibiting cell wall biosynthesis are among the most highly effective antibiotics against this pathogen. Although considerable progress has been made identifying the targets for cell wall active antibiotics, little is known about the intracellular mechanisms that are activated as a consequence of cell wall injury. These mechanisms are likely to have an important role in growth regulation and in the induction of cell death by antibiotics. We previously discovered three isoniazid-induced genes (iniB, iniA, and iniC) organized in tandem on the M. tuberculosis genome. Here, we investigate the unique features of the putative iniBAC promoter. This promoter was specifically induced by a broad range of inhibitors of cell wall biosynthesis but was not inducible by other conditions that are toxic to mycobacteria via other mechanisms. Induction required inhibitory concentrations of antibiotics and could be detected only in actively growing cells. Analysis of the iniBAC promoter sequence revealed both a regulatory element upstream and a potential repressor binding region downstream of the transcriptional start site. The induction phenotype and structure of the iniBAC promoter suggest that a complex intracellular response occurs when cell wall biosynthesis is inhibited in M. tuberculosis and other mycobacteria.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Division of Infectious Diseases, Centennial Building 4th floor, Montefiore Medical Center, 111 East 210th St., Bronx, NY 10467. Phone: (718) 920-2971. Fax: (718) 920-2746. E-mail: dalland404{at}aol.com.

dagger Present address: Department of Immunology and Infectious Disease, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115.

Journal of Bacteriology, April 2000, p. 1802-1811, Vol. 182, No. 7
0021-9193/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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