This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Bohringer, J. Articles by Hengge-Aronis, R. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Bohringer, J. Articles by Hengge-Aronis, R.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

J. Bacteriol., 01 1995, 413-422, Vol 177, No. 2
Copyright © 1995, American Society for Microbiology

UDP-glucose is a potential intracellular signal molecule in the control of expression of sigma S and sigma S-dependent genes in Escherichia coli

J Bohringer, D Fischer, G Mosler and R Hengge-Aronis
Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Germany.

The sigma S subunit of RNA polymerase is the master regulator of a regulatory network that controls stationary-phase induction as well as osmotic regulation of many genes in Escherichia coli. In an attempt to identify additional regulatory components in this network, we have isolated Tn10 insertion mutations that in trans alter the expression of osmY and other sigma S-dependent genes. One of these mutations conferred glucose sensitivity and was localized in pgi (encoding phosphoglucose isomerase). pgi::Tn10 strains exhibit increased basal levels of expression of osmY and otsBA in exponentially growing cells and reduced osmotic inducibility of these genes. A similar phenotype was also observed for pgm and galU mutants, which are deficient in phosphoglucomutase and UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase, respectively. This indicates that the observed effects on gene expression are related to the lack of UDP-glucose (or a derivative thereof), which is common to all three mutants. Mutants deficient in UDP-galactose epimerase (galE mutants) and trehalose-6-phosphate synthase (otsA mutants) do not exhibit such an effect on gene expression, and an mdoA mutant that is deficient in the first step of the synthesis of membrane-derived oligosaccharides, shows only a partial increase in the expression of osmY. We therefore propose that the cellular content of UDP-glucose serves as an internal signal that controls expression of osmY and other sigma S-dependent genes. In addition, we demonstrate that pgi, pgm, and galU mutants contain increased levels of sigma S during steady-state growth, indicating that UDP-glucose interferes with the expression of sigma S itself.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Smith, A. E., Kim, S.-H., Liu, F., Jia, W., Vinogradov, E., Gyles, C. L., Bishop, R. E. (2008). PagP Activation in the Outer Membrane Triggers R3 Core Oligosaccharide Truncation in the Cytoplasm of Escherichia coli O157:H7. J. Biol. Chem. 283: 4332-4343 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Buckstein, M. H., He, J., Rubin, H. (2008). Characterization of Nucleotide Pools as a Function of Physiological State in Escherichia coli. J. Bacteriol. 190: 718-726 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Vilches, S., Canals, R., Wilhelms, M., Salo, M. T., Knirel, Y. A., Vinogradov, E., Merino, S., Tomas, J. M. (2007). Mesophilic Aeromonas UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (GalU) mutants show two types of lipopolysaccharide structures and reduced virulence. Microbiology 153: 2393-2404 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Shimada, T., Makinoshima, H., Ogawa, Y., Miki, T., Maeda, M., Ishihama, A. (2004). Classification and Strength Measurement of Stationary-Phase Promoters by Use of a Newly Developed Promoter Cloning Vector. J. Bacteriol. 186: 7112-7122 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Flores-Diaz, M., Higuita, J.-C., Florin, I., Okada, T., Pollesello, P., Bergman, T., Thelestam, M., Mori, K., Alape-Giron, A. (2004). A Cellular UDP-glucose Deficiency Causes Overexpression of Glucose/Oxygen-regulated Proteins Independent of the Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Elements. J. Biol. Chem. 279: 21724-21731 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Bougdour, A., Lelong, C., Geiselmann, J. (2004). Crl, a Low Temperature-induced Protein in Escherichia coli That Binds Directly to the Stationary Phase {sigma} Subunit of RNA Polymerase. J. Biol. Chem. 279: 19540-19550 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Kaldalu, N., Mei, R., Lewis, K. (2004). Killing by Ampicillin and Ofloxacin Induces Overlapping Changes in Escherichia coli Transcription Profile. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 48: 890-896 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Hirsch, M., Elliott, T. (2002). Role of ppGpp in rpoS Stationary-Phase Regulation in Escherichia coli. J. Bacteriol. 184: 5077-5087 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Hengge-Aronis, R. (2002). Signal Transduction and Regulatory Mechanisms Involved in Control of the {sigma}S (RpoS) Subunit of RNA Polymerase. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 66: 373-395 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Marroquí, S., Zorreguieta, A., Santamaría, C., Temprano, F., Soberón, M., Megías, M., Downie, J. A. (2001). Enhanced Symbiotic Performance by Rhizobium tropici Glycogen Synthase Mutants. J. Bacteriol. 183: 854-864 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Nesper, J., Lauriano, C. M., Klose, K. E., Kapfhammer, D., Krai{beta}, A., Reidl, J. (2001). Characterization of Vibrio cholerae O1 El Tor galU and galE Mutants: Influence on Lipopolysaccharide Structure, Colonization, and Biofilm Formation. Infect. Immun. 69: 435-445 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Schellhorn, H. E., Audia, J. P., Wei, L. I. C., Chang, L. (1998). Identification of Conserved, RpoS-Dependent Stationary-Phase Genes of Escherichia coli. J. Bacteriol. 180: 6283-6291 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Tweeddale, H., Notley-McRobb, L., Ferenci, T. (1998). Effect of Slow Growth on Metabolism of Escherichia coli, as Revealed by Global Metabolite Pool ("Metabolome") Analysis. J. Bacteriol. 180: 5109-5116 [Abstract] [Full Text]