This Article Full Text 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 Tojo, S. Articles by Fujita, Y. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Tojo, S. Articles by Fujita, Y.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, December 2004, p. 7971-7979, Vol. 186, No. 23
0021-9193/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.186.23.7971-7979.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Negative Transcriptional Regulation of the ilv-leu Operon for Biosynthesis of Branched-Chain Amino Acids through the Bacillus subtilis Global Regulator TnrA

Shigeo Tojo, Takenori Satomura, Kaori Morisaki, Ken-Ichi Yoshida, Kazutake Hirooka, and Yasutaro Fujita^*

Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Fukuyama University, Fukuyama, Japan

Received 6 June 2004/ Accepted 20 August 2004

The Bacillus subtilis ilv-leu operon is involved in the synthesis of branched-chain amino acids (valine, isoleucine, and leucine). The two- to threefold repression of expression of the ilv-leu operon during logarithmic-phase growth under nitrogen-limited conditions, which was originally detected by a DNA microarray analysis to compare the transcriptomes from the wild-type and tnrA mutant strains, was confirmed by lacZ fusion and Northern experiments. A genome-wide TnrA box search revealed a candidate box approximately 200 bp upstream of the transcription initiation base of the ilv-leu operon, the TnrA binding to which was verified by gel retardation and DNase I footprinting analyses. Deletion and base substitution of the TnrA box sequence affected the ilv-leu promoter activity in vivo, implying that TnrA bound to the box might be able to inhibit the promoter activity, possibly through DNA bending. The negative control of the expression of the ilv-leu operon by TnrA, which is considered to represent rather fine-tuning (two- to threefold), is a novel regulatory link between nitrogen and amino acid metabolism.

---

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Life Science and Technology, Fukuyama University, 985 Sanzo, Higashimura-cho, Fukuyama-shi, Hiroshima 729-0292, Japan. Phone: 81 84 936 2111. Fax: 81 84 936 2459. E-mail: yfujita{at}bt.fubt.fukuyama-u.ac.jp.

Present address: Department of Biofunctional Chemistry, Kobe University, Kobe 657-8501, Japan.

---

Journal of Bacteriology, December 2004, p. 7971-7979, Vol. 186, No. 23
0021-9193/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.186.23.7971-7979.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Abe, S., Yasumura, A., Tanaka, T. (2009). Regulation of Bacillus subtilis aprE Expression by glnA through Inhibition of scoC and {sigma}D-Dependent degR Expression. J. Bacteriol. 191: 3050-3058 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Tojo, S., Satomura, T., Kumamoto, K., Hirooka, K., Fujita, Y. (2008). Molecular Mechanisms Underlying the Positive Stringent Response of the Bacillus subtilis ilv-leu Operon, Involved in the Biosynthesis of Branched-Chain Amino Acids. J. Bacteriol. 190: 6134-6147 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Zalieckas, J. M., Wray, L. V. Jr., Fisher, S. H. (2006). Cross-Regulation of the Bacillus subtilis glnRA and tnrA Genes Provides Evidence for DNA Binding Site Discrimination by GlnR and TnrA.. J. Bacteriol. 188: 2578-2585 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Chatterjee, S. S., Hossain, H., Otten, S., Kuenne, C., Kuchmina, K., Machata, S., Domann, E., Chakraborty, T., Hain, T. (2006). Intracellular Gene Expression Profile of Listeria monocytogenes. Infect. Immun. 74: 1323-1338 [Abstract] [Full Text]