Dataset Information

Fur-mediated activation of gene transcription in the human pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

ABSTRACT: It is well established that the ferric uptake regulatory protein (Fur) functions as a transcriptional repressor in diverse microorganisms. Recent studies demonstrated that Fur also functions as a transcriptional activator. In this study we defined Fur-mediated activation of gene transcription in the sexually transmitted disease pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Analysis of 37 genes which were previously determined to be iron induced and which contained putative Fur boxes revealed that only 30 of these genes exhibited reduced transcription in a gonococcal fur mutant strain. Fur-mediated activation was established by examining binding of Fur to the putative promoter regions of 16 Fur-activated genes with variable binding affinities observed. Only ?50% of the newly identified Fur-regulated genes bound Fur in vitro, suggesting that additional regulatory circuits exist which may function through a Fur-mediated indirect mechanism. The gonococcal Fur-activated genes displayed variable transcription patterns in a fur mutant strain, which correlated with the position of the Fur box in each (promoter) region. These results suggest that Fur-mediated direct transcriptional activation is fulfilled by multiple mechanisms involving either competing with a repressor or recruiting RNA polymerase. Collectively, our studies have established that gonococcal Fur functions as an activator of gene transcription through both direct and indirect mechanisms.

SUBMITTER: Yu C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3302472 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Fur-mediated activation of gene transcription in the human pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

Yu Chunxiao C Genco Caroline Attardo CA

Journal of bacteriology 20120127 7

It is well established that the ferric uptake regulatory protein (Fur) functions as a transcriptional repressor in diverse microorganisms. Recent studies demonstrated that Fur also functions as a transcriptional activator. In this study we defined Fur-mediated activation of gene transcription in the sexually transmitted disease pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Analysis of 37 genes which were previously determined to be iron induced and which contained putative Fur boxes revealed that only 30 of t ...[more]

PMID: 22287521

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Project description:The Neisseria gonorrhoeae ferric uptake regulator (Fur) protein controls expression of iron homeostasis genes in response to intracellular iron levels. In this study, using transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis of an N. gonorrhoeae fur strain, we defined the gonococcal Fur and iron regulons and characterized Fur-controlled expression of an ArsR-like DNA binding protein. We observed that 158 genes (8% of the genome) showed differential expression in response to iron in an N. gonorrhoeae wild-type or fur strain, while 54 genes exhibited differential expression in response to Fur. The Fur regulon was extended to additional regulators, including NrrF and 13 other small RNAs (sRNAs), and two transcriptional factors. One transcriptional factor, coding for an ArsR-like regulator (ArsR), exhibited increased expression under iron-replete conditions in the wild-type strain but showed decreased expression across iron conditions in the fur strain, an effect that was reversed in a fur-complemented strain. Fur was shown to bind to the promoter region of the arsR gene downstream of a predicted ?(70) promoter region. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) analysis confirmed binding of the ArsR protein to the norB promoter region, and sequence analysis identified two additional putative targets, NGO1411 and NGO1646. A gonococcal arsR strain demonstrated decreased survival in human endocervical epithelial cells compared to that of the wild-type and arsR-complemented strains, suggesting that the ArsR regulon includes genes required for survival in host cells. Collectively, these results demonstrate that the N. gonorrhoeae Fur functions as a global regulatory protein to repress or activate expression of a large repertoire of genes, including additional transcriptional regulatory proteins.Gene regulation in bacteria in response to environmental stimuli, including iron, is of paramount importance to both bacterial replication and, in the case of pathogenic bacteria, successful infection. Bacterial DNA binding proteins are a common mechanism utilized by pathogens to control gene expression under various environmental conditions. Here, we show that the DNA binding protein Fur, expressed by the human pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae, controls the expression of a large repertoire of genes and extends this regulon by controlling expression of additional DNA binding proteins. One of these proteins, an ArsR-like regulator, was required for N. gonorrhoeae survival within host cells. These results show that the Fur regulon extends to additional regulatory proteins, which together contribute to gonococcal mechanisms of pathogenesis.

Dataset Information

Fur-mediated activation of gene transcription in the human pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

Publications

Fur-mediated activation of gene transcription in the human pathogen Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

Similar Datasets

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