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Expression of the cold-shock gene cspB in Salmonella typhimurium occurs below a threshold temperature

Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology, Division of Biology, University of Edinburgh, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3JR, UK

ABSTRACT

Previous studies have shown that several bacterial species exhibit a multigenic response following temperature downshift (cold shock). Evidence for such a response in Salmonella typhimurium is reported, based on the isolation of a range of low-induction-temperature gene fusions containing Mudlux insertions. The fusions exhibited different levels of basal light at 30 °C, and were induced at different rates and to different degrees over several hours following a reduction in temperature to 10 °C. Of the Mudlux gene fusions isolated, one was found which produced essentially no light when grown at 30 °C but exhibited rapid and high-level induction when the temperature was reduced to 10 °C. The target of this gene fusion (which was named cspB) was shown to lie adjacent to the umuDC operon and to encode a homologue of the major cold-shock protein of Escherichia coli, CspA. Luminescence studies revealed that substantial light production occurred from the cspB::Mudlux fusion at or below 22 °C but not at higher temperatures, even following a temperature drop from 30 °C. Moreover, cspB mRNA levels were found to mimic this pattern of luminescence, suggesting that cspB expression occurs below a defined temperature threshold. The cspB mRNA was also found to be very stable at 10 °C but to become highly unstable when the temperature was raised towards the threshold temperature, even in the presence of rifampicin. Existing cellular RNases therefore appear to mediate the decay of cspB mRNA at high temperatures, but are incapable of this at low temperatures.

Author for correspondence: Maurice P. Gallagher. Tel: + 44 131 650 5409. Fax: +44 131 650 8650. e-mail: mp.gallagher@ed.ac.uk

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