title: Sequence and evolution of the FruR protein of Salmonella typhimurium: a pleiotropic transcriptional regulatory protein possessing both activator and repressor functions which is homologous to the periplasmic ribose-binding protein.
abstract: The repressor of the fructose (fru) operon of Salmonella typhimurium (FruR) has been implicated in the transcriptional regulation of dozens of genes concerned with central metabolic pathways of carbon utilization. We here report the nucleotide sequence of the gene encoding FruR and analyse both its operator-promoter region and its deduced amino acyl sequence. The FruR protein was overexpressed and was shown to have a molecular weight of about 36 kDa in agreement with the molecular weight deduced from the gene sequence. Sequence analyses revealed that FruR is homologous to 9 distinct bacterial DNA-binding proteins, most of which recognize sugar inducers and all of which possess helix-turn-helix motifs within their N-terminal regions and exhibit sequence identity throughout most of their lengths. FruR is also homologous to the periplasmic ribose-binding protein which serves as a constituent of the ribose transport/chemoreception system. The ribose-binding protein is in turn homologous to binding proteins specific for arabinose and galactose. The periplasmic binding proteins, the structures of some of which have been elucidated in three dimensions, lack the N-terminal helix-turn-helix region, but instead possess N-terminal hydrophobic signal sequences which target them to the periplasm. A phylogenetic tree for the more closely related proteins of this superfamily was constructed, and a signature motif was identified which should facilitate future detection of additional transcriptional regulatory proteins belonging to this family.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0116.
authors.forename: N B
authors.initials: NB
authors.lastname: Vartak
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Reizer
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Reizer
authors.forename: J T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Gripp
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Groisman
authors.forename: L F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Tomich
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Saier
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence / Q000235:genetics; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D005632:Fructose / Q000235:genetics*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D009875:Operator Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D009876:Operon / Q000235:genetics*; D033902:Periplasmic Binding Proteins; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D002352:Carrier Proteins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D033902:Periplasmic Binding Proteins; C028003:RbsB protein, E coli; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D005632:Fructose