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Isolation of a novel paraquat-inducible (pqi) gene regulated by the soxRS locus in Escherichia coli.

ABSTRACT: We have isolated promoters inducible by paraquat, a superoxide radical-generating agent, from Escherichia coli, using promoter-probing plasmid pJAC4 (Y.S. Koh and J.H. Roe, Korean J. Microbiol. 31:267-273, 1993). One promoter clone pqi-5 (pqi denotes paraquat-inducible gene) was mapped at 21.8 min on the E. coli chromosome by using the Kohara phage library. We constructed an operon fusion of the lacZ gene with the pqi-5 promoter to monitor the expression of the gene in the single-copy state. LacZ expression was induced about 7- to 13-fold by 77 to 780 microM paraquat. Other known superoxide generators such as menadione, phenazine methosulfate, and plumbagin also induced the expression of beta-galactosidase in this fusion strain. On the other hand, no significant induction was observed with treatment with hydrogen peroxide, ethanol, and heat shock. Induction of beta-galactosidase was significantly reduced by introducing a delta sox-8::cat or soxS3::Tn10 mutation into the fusion strain, indicating that pqi-5 is a member of the soxRS regulon. A DNA fragment containing the pqi-5 promoter was cloned and sequenced from the Kohara phage E2E5. We identified two pqi-5 open reading frames (ORFs); ORF-A encodes a predicted protein of 342 amino acids, and ORF-B is truncated at the cloning site. The transcription start site from the pqi-5 promoter was determined by primer extension and S1 nuclease protection analyses. Northern (RNA) and S1 analyses indicated that there are two kinds of pqi-5 transcript; one covers ORF-A only and the other covers ORF-A and possibly also ORF-B.

SUBMITTER: Koh YS

PROVIDER: S-EPMC176936 | biostudies-other | 1995 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Isolation of a novel paraquat-inducible (pqi) gene regulated by the soxRS locus in Escherichia coli.

Koh Y S YS Roe J H JH

Journal of bacteriology 19950501 10

We have isolated promoters inducible by paraquat, a superoxide radical-generating agent, from Escherichia coli, using promoter-probing plasmid pJAC4 (Y.S. Koh and J.H. Roe, Korean J. Microbiol. 31:267-273, 1993). One promoter clone pqi-5 (pqi denotes paraquat-inducible gene) was mapped at 21.8 min on the E. coli chromosome by using the Kohara phage library. We constructed an operon fusion of the lacZ gene with the pqi-5 promoter to monitor the expression of the gene in the single-copy state. Lac ...[more]

PMID: 7751275

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Project description:Rod-shaped bacteria such as Escherichia coli can regulate cell division in response to stress, leading to filamentation, a process where cell growth and DNA replication continues in the absence of division, resulting in elongated cells. The classic example of stress is DNA damage which results in the activation of the SOS response. While the inhibition of cell division during SOS has traditionally been attributed to SulA in E. coli, a previous report suggests that the e14 prophage may also encode an SOS-inducible cell division inhibitor, previously named SfiC. However, the exact gene responsible for this division inhibition has remained unknown for over 35 years. A recent high-throughput over-expression screen in E. coli identified the e14 prophage gene, ymfM, as a potential cell division inhibitor. In this study, we show that the inducible expression of ymfM from a plasmid causes filamentation. We show that this expression of ymfM results in the inhibition of Z ring formation and is independent of the well characterised inhibitors of FtsZ ring assembly in E. coli, SulA, SlmA and MinC. We confirm that ymfM is the gene responsible for the SfiC phenotype as it contributes to the filamentation observed during the SOS response. This function is independent of SulA, highlighting that multiple alternative division inhibition pathways exist during the SOS response. Our data also highlight that our current understanding of cell division regulation during the SOS response is incomplete and raises many questions regarding how many inhibitors there actually are and their purpose for the survival of the organism.Importance:Filamentation is an important biological mechanism which aids in the survival, pathogenesis and antibiotic resistance of bacteria within different environments, including pathogenic bacteria such as uropathogenic Escherichia coli Here we have identified a bacteriophage-encoded cell division inhibitor which contributes to the filamentation that occurs during the SOS response. Our work highlights that there are multiple pathways that inhibit cell division during stress. Identifying and characterising these pathways is a critical step in understanding survival tactics of bacteria which become important when combating the development of bacterial resistance to antibiotics and their pathogenicity.

Dataset Information

Isolation of a novel paraquat-inducible (pqi) gene regulated by the soxRS locus in Escherichia coli.

Publications

Isolation of a novel paraquat-inducible (pqi) gene regulated by the soxRS locus in Escherichia coli.

Similar Datasets

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