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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,
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.

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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