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Journal of Bacteriology, July 2007, p. 4624-4634, Vol. 189, No. 13
0021-9193/07/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JB.00337-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Characterization of a Novel Bile-Inducible Operon Encoding a Two-Component Regulatory System in Lactobacillus acidophilus
Erika A. Pfeiler,1,3
M. Andrea Azcarate-Peril,2,3 and
Todd R. Klaenhammer1,2,3*
Genomic Sciences Graduate Program, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695,1
Department of Food Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695,2
Southeast Dairy Foods Research Center, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 276953
Received 7 March 2007/
Accepted 16 April 2007
Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM is an industrially important strain used extensively as a probiotic culture. Tolerance of the presence of bile is an attribute important to microbial survival in the intestinal tract. A whole-genome microarray was employed to examine the effects of bile on the global transcriptional profile of this strain, with the intention of elucidating genes contributing to bile tolerance. Genes involved in carbohydrate metabolism were generally induced, while genes involved in other aspects of cellular growth were mostly repressed. A 7-kb eight-gene operon encoding a two-component regulatory system (2CRS), a transporter, an oxidoreductase, and four hypothetical proteins was significantly upregulated in the presence of bile. Deletion mutations were constructed in six genes of the operon. Transcriptional analysis of the 2CRS mutants showed that mutation of the histidine protein kinase (HPK) had no effect on the induction of the operon, whereas the mutated response regulator (RR) showed enhanced induction when the cells were exposed to bile. These results indicate that the 2CRS plays a role in bile tolerance and that the operon it resides in is negatively controlled by the RR. Mutations in the transporter, the HPK, the RR, and a hypothetical protein each resulted in loss of tolerance of bile. Mutations in genes encoding another hypothetical protein and a putative oxidoreductase resulted in significant increases in bile tolerance. This functional analysis showed that the operon encoded proteins involved in both bile tolerance and bile sensitivity.
* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Dept. of Food Science, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695. Phone: (919) 515-2972. Fax: (919) 513-0014. E-mail:
trk{at}unity.ncsu.edu
Published ahead of print on 20 April 2007.
Journal of Bacteriology, July 2007, p. 4624-4634, Vol. 189, No. 13
0021-9193/07/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/JB.00337-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
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