title: Sequence elements in the Escherichia coli araFGH promoter.
abstract: The Escherichia coli araFGH operon codes for proteins involved in the L-arabinose high-affinity transport system. Transcriptional regulation of the operon was studied by creating point mutations and deletions in the control region cloned into a GalK expression vector. The transcription start site was confirmed by RNA sequencing of transcripts. The sequences essential for polymerase function were localized by deletions and point mutations. Surprisingly, only a weak -10 consensus sequence, and no -35 sequence is required. Mutation of a guanosine at position -12 greatly reduced promoter activity, which suggests important polymerase interactions with DNA between the usual -10 and -35 positions. A double mutation toward the consensus in the -10 region was required to create a promoter capable of significant AraC-independent transcription. These results show that the araFGH promoter structure is similar to that of the galP1 promoter and is substantially different from that of the araBAD promoter. The effects of 11 mutations within the DNA region thought to bind the cyclic AMP receptor protein correlate well with the CRP consensus binding sequence and confirm that this region is responsible for cyclic AMP regulation. Deletion of the AraC binding site nearest the promoter, araFG1, eliminates arabinose regulation, whereas deletion of the upstream AraC binding site, araFG2, has only a slight effect on promoter activity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine, University of Illinois, Chicago 60680.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hendrickson
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Flaherty
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Molz
mesh_terms: D001089:Arabinose / Q000378:metabolism*; D001483:Base Sequence; D001692:Biological Transport; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D016384:Consensus Sequence; D002373:Cyclic AMP Receptor Protein; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / Q000378:metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016296:Mutagenesis; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D011953:Receptors, Cyclic AMP / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D002373:Cyclic AMP Receptor Protein; D011953:Receptors, Cyclic AMP; D001089:Arabinose; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases