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1 Institute of Microbiology, Technical University Braunschweig, Spielmannstr. 7, D-38106 Braunschweig, Germany
2 Division of Cell and Immune Biology, Proteome Research Group, Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Inhoffenstr. 7, D-38124 Braunschweig, Germany
Correspondence
Max Schobert
m.schobert{at}tu-bs.de
| ABSTRACT |
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Present address: Institute of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Technical University Braunschweig, Spielmannstr. 7, D-38106 Braunschweig, Germany.
| INTRODUCTION |
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| METHODS |
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Northern blot analysis.
For RNA extraction, cells were grown under oxygen-limited conditions in LB medium at 37 °C to an OD578 of 0.2. RNA was prepared as described by Boes et al. (2006)
. Ten micrograms of RNA was separated electrophoretically on a 1 % agarose gel containing 5 % formaldehyde and then transferred to a nylon membrane. For hybridization, a digoxigenin-labelled arcA probe was used and the typical arcABC, arcAB and arcA transcripts were detected (Gamper et al., 1992
). The arcA probe was generated using the primer pair arcA-NO-for (5'-CTGACCGAGACCATCCAGAA-3') and arcA-NO-rev (5'-CTAATACGACTCACTATAGGGAGACAGCAGGGTGTTGGTGTAGG-3'). DNA was labelled using the Digoxigenin RNA Labelling kit (Roche). CDP-Star (NEB) was used for detection.
Construction of chromosomal arcD promoter-lacZ reporter gene fusions and corresponding reporter gene assay.
The complete arcD promoter region (Fig. 3
) was fused to E. coli lacZ. A 1005 bp PCR product was generated using the primer pair ArcDfor_A (5'-AACTGCAGGCTGCCGTGGCTCATGAT-3') and ArcDrev_B (5'-CGGGATCCTTTGCGGGAGGGAGAAGA-3'); the recognition sequences for PstI and BamHI are underlined. The resulting DNA fragment was digested with PstI and BamHI and cloned into the PstI/BamHI-digested mini-CTX-lacZ vector to generate pDH11 (Table 1
). This plasmid was integrated into the attB site of the P. aeruginosa PAO1 genome and the corresponding narL mutant strain to generate strains BB43 and BB45, respectively (Table 1
). Transfer of plasmids into P. aeruginosa was carried out by a diparental mating as described before (Schreiber et al., 2006
). In the mutant strains BB43, BB45 and BB46, parts of the mini-CTX-lacZ containing the tetracycline-resistance gene were deleted using a FLP recombinase encoded on the pFLP2 plasmid (Hoang et al., 1998
). The β-galactosidase activities of the strains carrying lacZ reporter gene fusions were determined in the early exponential phase at an OD578 of 0.2 and are given in Miller units (MU) (Schreiber et al., 2006
). Data are the result of at least three independent experiments.
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CATTCAA) was based on the published NarL consensus binding sequence (Tyson et al., 1993| RESULTS |
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Identification of the NarL-binding site in the arcDABC promoter
Next, we were interested to know if the observed decrease in the arcDABC mRNA level and corresponding in vivo promoter activity is mediated by direct repression of the arcDABC promoter via NarL. Earlier investigations showed that the arcDABC operon is expressed in response to oxygen limitation in an Anr-dependent manner (Galimand et al., 1991
) and that the presence of arginine increases transcription via the ArgR regulator (Lu et al., 1999
). The arcDABC promoter region contains an Anr-binding site at –41.5 nt (Gamper et al., 1991
) and an ArgR-binding site, which spans from –94 nt to –53 nt relative to the transcriptional start site (Lu et al., 1999
). We searched the arcD promoter for the presence of a NarL-binding site using the Virtual Footprint tool from the PRODORIC database (Münch et al., 2005
). This analysis revealed one conserved heptameric NarL-binding site located –60 nt upstream of the published transcriptional start site shown in Fig. 3
(Gamper et al., 1991
). The position of the NarL heptameric binding site at –60 nt overlaps with the ArgR-binding site and suggests that NarL interferes with ArgR but not with the Anr regulator. In order to functionally confirm the bioinformatics prediction, the putative heptameric NarL-binding site was mutated (TACTCAA
CATTCAA) based on the published NarL consensus binding sequence from E. coli (TACC/TNA/CT) (Tyson et al., 1993
). Since the NarL box partly overlaps with the ArgR box we carefully selected positions for mutagenesis in order to avoid the change of nucleotides known to be important for ArgR binding (see Fig. 3
for details) (Lu et al., 1999
). We determined β-galactosidase activities of strain BB46 containing the mutated ParcD
NarL-lacZ fusion in the wild-type strain. The activities of BB46 (1696 MU) were similar to those obtained for the ParcD-lacZ in the narL mutant BB45 (1975 MU). This result confirms a direct repression of the arcDABC promoter via NarL.
Arginine-dependent ArgR activation of arcDABC is repressed by nitrate-dependent NarL
To elucidate whether NarL interferes with the Anr or ArgR regulator at the arcD promoter, we extended our reporter gene experiments for the separate addition of nitrate and arginine to defined growth medium. The results are given in Table 3
. The highest β-galactosidase activities of the ParcD-lacZ fusion in the wild-type (BB43) and the narL mutant strain (BB45) were measured for anaerobic conditions in the presence of 20 mM arginine. The addition of nitrate decreased β-galactosidase activities by 55 % in the wild-type, but by only 24 % or 19 % in the narL mutant strain or the wild-type strain containing the ParcD
NarL-lacZ fusion with the mutated NarL-binding site in the arcD promoter region (Table 3
). These results clearly show a NarL-dependent repression of the arginine-mediated activation of the arcD promoter via the proposed NarL-binding site.
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| DISCUSSION |
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A bioinformatics analysis of the arcD promoter region identified a putative heptameric NarL-binding site at –60 nt to the transcriptional start site. This putative binding site (TACTCAA) differs only in one position from the published E. coli NarL consensus binding sequence (TACC/TNA/CT) (Tyson et al., 1993
). This putative NarL-binding site overlaps with the binding site of the ArgR regulator, which complicated mutagenesis of the NarL-binding site. However, we carefully selected positions for mutagenesis in order to avoid the change of nucleotides known to be important for ArgR binding (see Fig. 3
for details) (Lu et al., 1999
). The consensus sequence of the ArgR-binding site has been deduced from DNase I footprinting studies (Lu et al., 1999
, 2004
). Control experiments in AB minimal medium with arginine confirmed that the mutation left the ArgR-binding site functional. It showed that β-galactosidase activities of strain BB45, which carries the reporter gene fusion with the mutated NarL-binding site, increased fivefold in response to arginine compared to the reporter gene fusion with the intact NarL-binding site. The position of the putative NarL-binding site, as well as the results of the reporter gene fusion experiments, suggests the following model. The NarX-NarL regulatory system of P. aeruginosa is employed for activation of nitrate respiration and downregulation of arginine fermentation under anaerobic conditions (Fig. 4
). However, NarL does not completely abolish the expression of the arcDABC operon. In the presence of nitrate and arginine, NarL binding most likely prevents interaction of the arginine-dependent ArgR activator with its overlapping binding site and represses the further induction of arcDABC transcription by ArgR. No repression of arcDABC transcription by NarL was observed in the absence of arginine (Table 3
). This finding is in agreement with the concept of a double role for NarL as an activator for nitrate reductase formation as well as a repressor of energetically less effective fermentative pathways.
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Our proteomics approach revealed four additional proteins with decreased concentration in the narL mutant strain. Only the corresponding gene of NarH, which is a part of the narK1K2GHJI operon, has been shown to be under direct control of the NarL regulator (Schreiber et al., 2007
). We did not identify any highly conserved NarL-binding sites in the putative promoter regions of the genes for the remaining three proteins (data not shown). Therefore, a direct control via NarL seems unlikely. Moreover, proteins homologous to OprE, NrdJa and NrdJb are not part of the E. coli NarL regulon (Constantinidou et al., 2006
).
| ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS |
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Edited by: M. A. Kertesz
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Received 28 March 2008;
revised 11 June 2008;
accepted 18 June 2008.
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