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New target genes controlled by the Bradyrhizobium japonicum two-component regulatory system RegSR.

ABSTRACT: RegSR-like proteins, members of the family of two-component regulatory systems, are present in a large number of proteobacteria in which they globally control gene expression mostly in a redox-responsive manner. The controlled target genes feature an enormous functional diversity. In Bradyrhizobium japonicum, the facultative root nodule symbiont of soybean, RegSR activate the transcription of the nitrogen fixation regulatory gene nifA, thus forming a RegSR-NifA cascade which is part of a complex regulatory network for gene regulation in response to changing oxygen concentrations. Whole-genome transcription profiling was performed here in order to assess the full regulatory scope of RegSR. The comparative analysis of wild-type and delta regR cells grown under oxic and microoxic conditions revealed that expression of almost 250 genes is dependent on RegR, a result that underscores the important contribution of RegR to oxygen- or redox-regulated gene expression in B. japonicum. Furthermore, transcription profiling of delta regR bacteroids compared with wild-type bacteroids revealed expression changes for about 1,200 genes in young and mature bacteroids. Incidentally, many of these were found to be induced in symbiosis when wild-type bacteroids were compared with free-living, culture-grown wild-type cells, and they appeared to encode diverse functions possibly related to symbiosis and nitrogen fixation. We demonstrated direct RegR-mediated control at promoter regions of several selected target genes by means of DNA binding experiments and in vitro transcription assays, which revealed six novel direct RegR target promoters.

SUBMITTER: Lindemann A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2168637 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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New target genes controlled by the Bradyrhizobium japonicum two-component regulatory system RegSR.

Lindemann Andrea A Moser Annina A Pessi Gabriella G Hauser Felix F Friberg Markus M Hennecke Hauke H Fischer Hans-Martin HM

Journal of bacteriology 20071019 24

RegSR-like proteins, members of the family of two-component regulatory systems, are present in a large number of proteobacteria in which they globally control gene expression mostly in a redox-responsive manner. The controlled target genes feature an enormous functional diversity. In Bradyrhizobium japonicum, the facultative root nodule symbiont of soybean, RegSR activate the transcription of the nitrogen fixation regulatory gene nifA, thus forming a RegSR-NifA cascade which is part of a complex ...[more]

PMID: 17951393

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Project description:Previously, we screened the symbiotic gene region of the Bradyrhizobium japonicum chromosome for new NifA-dependent genes by competitive DNA-RNA hybridization (A. Nienaber, A. Huber, M. Göttfert, H. Hennecke, and H. M. Fischer, J. Bacteriol. 182:1472-1480, 2000). Here we report more details on one of the genes identified, a hemN-like gene (now called hemN(1)) whose product exhibits significant similarity to oxygen-independent coproporphyrinogen III dehydrogenases involved in heme biosynthesis in facultatively anaerobic bacteria. In the course of these studies, we discovered that B. japonicum possesses a second hemN-like gene (hemN(2)), which was then cloned by using hemN(1) as a probe. The hemN(2) gene maps outside of the symbiotic gene region; it is located 1.5 kb upstream of nirK, the gene for a Cu-containing nitrite reductase. The two deduced HemN proteins are similar in size (445 and 450 amino acids for HemN(1) and HemN(2), respectively) and share 53% identical (68% similar) amino acids. Expression of both hemN genes was monitored with the help of chromosomally integrated translational lacZ fusions. No significant expression of either gene was detected in aerobically grown cells, whereas both genes were strongly induced (> or = 20-fold) under microaerobic or anaerobic conditions. Induction was in both cases dependent on the transcriptional activator protein FixK(2). In addition, maximal anaerobic hemN(1) expression was partially dependent on NifA, which explains why this gene had been identified by the competitive DNA-RNA hybridization approach. Strains were constructed carrying null mutations either in individual hemN genes or simultaneously in both genes. All mutants showed normal growth in rich medium under aerobic conditions. Unlike the hemN(1) mutant, strains lacking a functional hemN(2) gene were unable to grow anaerobically under nitrate-respiring conditions and largely failed to fix nitrogen in symbiosis with the soybean host plant. Moreover, these mutants lacked several c-type cytochromes which are normally detectable by heme staining of proteins from anaerobically grown wild-type cells. Taken together, our results revealed that B. japonicum hemN(2), but not hemN(1), encodes a protein that is functional under the conditions tested, and this conclusion was further corroborated by the successful complementation of a Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium hemF hemN mutant with hemN(2) only.

Project description:Copper-limiting growth conditions were thought to cause an induction of genes possibly involved in copper uptake and sorting. This rationale in mind, we performed microarray analyses on B. japonicum cells grown in three variations of the BVM minimal medium. Variant 1 contained 2 M-NM-<M CuSO4 (copper excess). Variant 2 was prepared in HCl-treated glassware without any copper added (copper starvation). The residual copper concentration in this copper-starvation medium was analyzed by GF-AAS and determined to be 5 nM. Variant 3 (extreme copper limitation) was prepared like variant 2 but with the addition of 10 M-NM-<M BCS and 1 mM ascorbic acid where BCS chelates Cu(I) selectively, and ascorbic acid reduces any Cu(II) to Cu(I). Changes in the transcription profiles were recorded by the pairwise comparison of cells grown in variant 2 vs. 1, and variant 3 vs. 2. Only a small set of genes were differentially up- or down-regulated when copper-starved cells were compared with cells grown in copper excess. Most notably, five genes located adjacent to each other on the B. japonicum genome displayed an increased expression: bll4882 to bll4878. The five genes were named pcuA, pcuB, pcuC, pcuD, and pcuE (mnemonic of proteins for Cu trafficking). The genes with decreased expression are either of unknown function or M-bM-^@M-^S not surprisingly M-bM-^@M-^S play a role in copper resistance. Extreme copper limitation (variant 3 vs. 2) did not further enhance the expression of the five pcu genes. Instead, another cluster of adjacent genes was strongly up-regulated: bll0889 to bll0883, which code for unidentified transport functions. Incidentally, the list also includes the copper chaperone ScoI. Taken together, copper-limiting growth conditions have led to the de-repression of genes potentially involved in copper acquisition. Microarray-based transcriptome analysis of B. japonicum 110spc4 wild-type cells grown under normal, copper-limiting and copper excess conditions

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New target genes controlled by the Bradyrhizobium japonicum two-component regulatory system RegSR.

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New target genes controlled by the Bradyrhizobium japonicum two-component regulatory system RegSR.

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