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J Bacteriol, February 1998, p. 626-633, Vol. 180, No. 3
0021-9193/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

A Promoter Relay Mechanism for Sequential Gene Activation

Ming Fang and Hai-Young Wu*

Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan 48201

Received 18 September 1997/Accepted 24 November 1997

The effect of DNA supercoiling on gene expression is dependent not only on specific genes but also on the sequence context of the genes. This position-dependent supercoiling effect on gene activation is best illustrated in the study of the suppression of the leu-500 mutation of the leuABCD operon in a Salmonella typhimurium topA mutant. In this communication, we report a novel promoter relay mechanism whereby several genes are sequentially expressed in a position-dependent manner: the ilvIH promoter (pilvIH) activates a cryptic leuO promoter (pleuO) located between the two divergently arrayed ilvIH and leu-500 promoters. Both the cis-acting pleuO activity and the trans-acting LeuO protein are necessary for subsequent activation of the leu-500 promoter (pleu-500). Furthermore, pleuO can be functionally replaced with the inducible tac promoter (ptac) for leu-500 activation, suggesting that transcription-driven DNA supercoiling underlies the relay mechanism. This is the first example of several related genes communicating via a promoter relay mechanism for their coordinated expression.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Wayne State University, 540 E. Canfield Ave., Detroit, MI 48201. Phone: (313) 577-1584. Fax: (313) 577-6739. E-mail: haiwu{at}med.wayne.edu.




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