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Journal of Bacteriology, February 2008, p. 1011-1019, Vol. 190, No. 3
0021-9193/08/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.01605-07
Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

An AbrB-Like Protein Regulates the Expression of the Bidirectional Hydrogenase in Synechocystis sp. Strain PCC 6803

Department of Photochemistry and Molecular Science, Ångström Laboratories, Uppsala University, P.O. Box 523, SE-751 20 Uppsala, Sweden

Received 3 October 2007/ Accepted 5 November 2007

In the unicellular cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803, the pentameric bidirectional Ni-Fe hydrogenase (HoxEFUYH) is the sole enzyme involved in hydrogen metabolism. Recent investigations implicated the transcription factor LexA in the regulation of the hox genes in this cyanobacterium, suggesting the factor to work as an activator. In this work, we show evidence that LexA cannot account exclusively for the regulation of the hox genes in this cyanobacterium. Therefore, we investigated which additional transcription factors interact in and may regulate the expression of the hox genes in Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803. By using DNA affinity assays, a transcription factor with similarity to the transition state regulator AbrB from Bacillus subtilis was isolated. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays showed that the AbrB-like protein specifically interacts with the promoter region of the hox genes as well as with its own promoter region. In addition, results obtained with two genetically modified strains of Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803, one with a not fully segregated inactivation mutation of the abrB-like gene and the other overexpressing the same abrB-like gene, suggest that this transcription factor functions as a regulator of hox gene expression.

Published ahead of print on 26 November 2007.

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