title: Activity of the Agrobacterium Ti plasmid conjugal transfer regulator TraR is inhibited by the product of the traM gene.
abstract: The Agrobacterium Ti plasmid tra regulon was previously found to be positively regulated by the TraR protein in the presence of a diffusible N-acyl homoserine lactone designated Agrobacterium autoinducer (AAI). TraR and AAI are similar to LuxR from Vibrio fischeri and the Vibrio autoinducer (VAI), which regulate target bioluminescence (lux) genes in a cell density-dependent manner. We now show that tra genes are also regulated by a second protein, designated TraM, which acts to antagonize TraR-dependent activation. The traM gene is closely linked to traR, and the two genes are transcribed convergently. The predicted TraM proteins of two different Ti plasmids are 77% identical but are not significantly similar to other protein sequences in the database, and thus TraM may represent a novel regulatory protein. Null mutations in traM cause strongly increased conjugation, tra gene transcription, and AAI production. A functional copy of traM introduced into traM mutants decreased conjugation, tra gene transcription, and AAI synthesis. TraM inhibits transcription of traA, traI, and traM. Although traM was first identified by its octopine-inducible promoter, we now show that induction by octopine requires traR, strongly suggesting that TraR is the direct traM activator.
authors.affiliation: Section of Microbiology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fuqua
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Burbea
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Winans
mesh_terms: D016960:Agrobacterium tumefaciens / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D001120:Arginine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000494:pharmacology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D003227:Conjugation, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements / Q000235:genetics*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D005809:Genes, Regulator / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C080512:TraR protein, Agrobacterium tumefaciens; D014157:Transcription Factors; C074281:TraM protein, bacterial; C005394:octopine; D001120:Arginine