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

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, October 2002, p. 5781-5788, Vol. 184, No. 20
0021-9193/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.184.20.5781-5788.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

The Positive Regulator, TraJ, of the Escherichia coli F Plasmid Is Unstable in a cpxA* Background

Michael J. Gubbins, Isabella Lau, William R. Will, Janet M. Manchak, Tracy L. Raivio, and Laura S. Frost*

Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T6G 2E9

Received 9 May 2002/ Accepted 15 July 2002

The Cpx (conjugative plasmid expression) stress response of Escherichia coli is induced in response to extracytoplasmic signals generated in the cell envelope, such as misfolded proteins in the periplasm. Detection of stress is mediated by the membrane-bound histidine kinase, CpxA. Signaling of the response regulator CpxR by activated CpxA results in the expression of several factors required for responding to cell envelope stress. CpxA was originally thought to be required for the expression of the positive regulator of the F plasmid transfer (tra) operon, TraJ. It was later determined that constitutive gain-of-function mutations in cpxA led to activation of the Cpx envelope stress response and decreased TraJ expression. In order to determine the nature of the downregulation of TraJ, the level of expression of TraJ, TraM, and TraY, the F-encoded regulatory proteins of the F tra region, was determined both in a cpxA* background and in a wild-type background in which the Cpx stress response was induced by overexpression of the outer membrane lipoprotein, NlpE. Our results suggest that TraJ downregulation is controlled by a posttranscriptional mechanism that operates in the cytoplasm in response to upregulation of the Cpx stress response by both the cpxA* gain-of-function mutation and the overexpression of NlpE.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: CW-405 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, T6G 2E9 Alberta, Canada. Phone: (780) 492-5172. Fax: (780) 492-9234. E-mail: laura.frost{at}ualberta.ca.

Journal of Bacteriology, October 2002, p. 5781-5788, Vol. 184, No. 20
0021-9193/02/$04.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.184.20.5781-5788.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Garcia-Quintanilla, M., Ramos-Morales, F., Casadesus, J. (2008). Conjugal Transfer of the Salmonella enterica Virulence Plasmid in the Mouse Intestine. J. Bacteriol. 190: 1922-1927 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Zahrl, D., Wagner, A., Tscherner, M., Koraimann, G. (2007). GroEL Plays a Central Role in Stress-Induced Negative Regulation of Bacterial Conjugation by Promoting Proteolytic Degradation of the Activator Protein TraJ. J. Bacteriol. 189: 5885-5894 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Zahrl, D., Wagner, M., Bischof, K., Koraimann, G. (2006). Expression and Assembly of a Functional Type IV Secretion System Elicit Extracytoplasmic and Cytoplasmic Stress Responses in Escherichia coli.. J. Bacteriol. 188: 6611-6621 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Klimke, W. A., Rypien, C. D., Klinger, B., Kennedy, R. A., Rodriguez-Maillard, J. M., Frost, L. S. (2005). The mating pair stabilization protein, TraN, of the F plasmid is an outer-membrane protein with two regions that are important for its function in conjugation. Microbiology 151: 3527-3540 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Camacho, E. M., Serna, A., Madrid, C., Marques, S., Fernandez, R., de la Cruz, F., Juarez, A., Casadesus, J. (2005). Regulation of finP Transcription by DNA Adenine Methylation in the Virulence Plasmid of Salmonella enterica. J. Bacteriol. 187: 5691-5699 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Nevesinjac, A. Z., Raivio, T. L. (2005). The Cpx Envelope Stress Response Affects Expression of the Type IV Bundle-Forming Pili of Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli. J. Bacteriol. 187: 672-686 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Mitobe, J., Arakawa, E., Watanabe, H. (2005). A Sensor of the Two-Component System CpxA Affects Expression of the Type III Secretion System through Posttranscriptional Processing of InvE. J. Bacteriol. 187: 107-113 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»