Dataset Information

Crystal structure of the in vivo-assembled Bacillus subtilis Spx/RNA polymerase alpha subunit C-terminal domain complex.

ABSTRACT: The Bacillus subtilis Spx protein is a global transcription factor that interacts with the C-terminal domain of the RNA polymerase alpha subunit (alphaCTD) and regulates transcription of genes involved in thiol-oxidative stress, sporulation, competence, and organosulfur metabolism. Here we determined the X-ray crystal structure of the Spx/alphaCTD complex from an entirely new crystal form than previously reported [Newberry, K.J., Nakano, S., Zuber, P., Brennan, R.G., 2005. Crystal structure of the Bacillus subtilis anti-alpha, global transcriptional regulator, Spx, in complex with the alpha C-terminal domain of RNA polymerase. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102, 15839-15844]. Comparison of the previously reported sulfate-bound complex and our sulfate-free complex reveals subtle conformational changes that may be important for the role of Spx in regulating organosulfur metabolism.

SUBMITTER: Lamour V

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2757488 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Crystal structure of the in vivo-assembled Bacillus subtilis Spx/RNA polymerase alpha subunit C-terminal domain complex.

Lamour Valerie V Westblade Lars F LF Campbell Elizabeth A EA Darst Seth A SA

Journal of structural biology 20090704 2

The Bacillus subtilis Spx protein is a global transcription factor that interacts with the C-terminal domain of the RNA polymerase alpha subunit (alphaCTD) and regulates transcription of genes involved in thiol-oxidative stress, sporulation, competence, and organosulfur metabolism. Here we determined the X-ray crystal structure of the Spx/alphaCTD complex from an entirely new crystal form than previously reported [Newberry, K.J., Nakano, S., Zuber, P., Brennan, R.G., 2005. Crystal structure of t ...[more]

PMID: 19580872

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Project description:Bacillus subtilis Spx is a global transcriptional regulator that is conserved among Gram-positive bacteria, in which Spx is required for preventing oxidatively induced proteotoxicity. Upon stress induction, Spx engages RNA polymerase (RNAP) through interaction with the C-terminal domain of the rpoA-encoded RNAP ? subunit (?CTD). Previous mutational analysis of rpoA revealed that substitutions of Y263 in ?CTD severely impaired Spx-activated transcription. Attempts to substitute alanine for ?CTD R261, R268, R289, E255, E298, and K294 were unsuccessful, suggesting that these residues are essential. To determine whether these RpoA residues were required for productive Spx-RNAP interaction, we ectopically expressed the putatively lethal rpoA mutant alleles in the rpoAY263C mutant, where "Y263C" indicates the amino acid change that results from mutation of the allele. By complementation analysis, we show that Spx-bound ?CTD amino acid residues are not essential for Spx-activated transcription in vivo but that R261A, E298A, and E255A mutants confer a partial defect in NaCl-stress induction of Spx-controlled genes. In addition, strains expressing rpoAE255A are defective in disulfide stress resistance and produce RNAP having a reduced affinity for Spx. The E255 residue corresponds to Escherichia coli ?D259, which has been implicated in ?CTD-?70 interaction (?70 R603, corresponding to R362 of B. subtilis ?A). However, the combined rpoAE255A and sigAR362A mutations have an additive negative effect on Spx-dependent expression, suggesting the residues' differing roles in Spx-activated transcription. Our findings suggest that, while ?CTD is essential for Spx-activated transcription, Spx is the primary DNA-binding determinant of the Spx-?CTD complex.IMPORTANCE Though extensively studied in Escherichia coli, the role of ?CTD in activator-stimulated transcription is largely uncharacterized in Bacillus subtilis Here, we conduct phenotypic analyses of putatively lethal ?CTD alanine codon substitution mutants to determine whether these residues function in specific DNA binding at the Spx-?CTD-DNA interface. Our findings suggest that multisubunit RNAP contact to Spx is optimal for activation while Spx fulfills the most stringent requirement of upstream promoter binding. Furthermore, several ?CTD residues targeted for mutagenesis in this study are conserved among many bacterial species and thus insights on their function in other regulatory systems may be suggested herein.

Dataset Information

Crystal structure of the in vivo-assembled Bacillus subtilis Spx/RNA polymerase alpha subunit C-terminal domain complex.

Publications

Crystal structure of the in vivo-assembled Bacillus subtilis Spx/RNA polymerase alpha subunit C-terminal domain complex.

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