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J Bacteriol, May 1998, p. 2367-2372, Vol. 180, No. 9
Department of Microbiology and Immunology,
University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois
60612,1 and
Department of Microbiology,
University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 522422
Received 26 November 1997/Accepted 23 February 1998
The catBCA operon of Pseudomonas putida
encodes enzymes involved in the catabolism of benzoate. Transcription
of this operon requires the LysR-type transcriptional regulator CatR
and an inducer molecule, cis,cis-muconate.
Previous gel shift assays and DNase I footprinting have demonstrated
that CatR occupies two adjacent sites proximal to the
catBCA promoter in the presence of the inducer. We report
the presence of an additional binding site for CatR downstream of the
catBCA promoter within the catB structural
gene. This site, called the internal binding site (IBS), extends from +162 to +193 with respect to the catB transcriptional start
site and lies within the catB open reading frame. Gel shift
analysis and DNase I footprinting determined that CatR binds to this
site with low affinity. CatR binds cooperatively with higher affinity to the IBS in the presence of the two upstream binding sites. Parallel
in vivo and in vitro studies were conducted to determine the role of
the internal binding site. We measured
0021-9193/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Transcriptional Repression Mediated by LysR-Type
Regulator CatR Bound at Multiple Binding Sites
-galactosidase activity of
catB-lacZ transcriptional fusions in vivo. Our results suggest a probable cis-acting repressor function for the
internal binding site. Site-directed mutagenesis of the IBS verified
this finding. The location of the IBS within the catB
structural gene, the cooperativity observed in footprinting studies,
and phasing studies suggest that the IBS likely participates in the
interaction of CatR with the upstream binding sites by looping out the
intervening DNA.
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Microbiology and Immunology (M/C 790), University of Illinois College of Medicine, 835 South Wolcott Ave., Chicago, IL 60612. Phone: (312)
996-4586. Fax: (312) 996-6415. E-mail:
Ananda.Chakrabarty{at}uic.edu.
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