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Journal of Bacteriology, January 2001, p. 644-653, Vol. 183, No. 2
Division of Microbial and Molecular Ecology,
Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem,
91904 Jerusalem, Israel
Received 7 August 2000/Accepted 19 October 2000
The transcription of nhaA, encoding the main
Na+/H+ antiporter of Escherichia
coli, is induced by Na+, regulated by NhaR, and
affected by H-NS. In this work the roles of the two nhaA
promoters (P1 and P2) were studied by analysis of transcription both in
vivo and in vitro and promoter mutations. We found that P1 is an
NhaR-dependent, Na+-induced, and H-NS-affected promoter
both in the exponential and stationary phases. An in vitro
transcription assay demonstrated that P1 is activated by
0021-9193/01/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/JB.183.2.644-653.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Transcription of nhaA, the Main
Na+/H+ Antiporter of Escherichia
coli, Is Regulated by Na+ and Growth
Phase
70-RNA polymerase and both NhaR and H-NS increase the
specificity of P1. Remarkably, in marked contrast to P1, P2 exhibits
very low activity during the exponential phase but is induced in the stationary phase to become the major promoter. Furthermore, P2 is
activated by
S and is neither induced by Na+
nor dependent on NhaR or affected by H-NS. Hence, this work establishes that nhaA has a dual mode of regulation, each involving
a different promoter, and reveals that P2 and
S together
are responsible for the survival of stationary-phase cells in the
presence of high Na+, alkaline pH, and the combination of
high Na+ and alkaline pH, the most stressful condition.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Division of
Microbial and Molecular Ecology, Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 91904 Jerusalem, Israel. Phone: 972-2-6585094. Fax: 972-2-6586947. E-mail: etana{at}vms.huji.ac.il.
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