title: Identification of the transcriptional activator pobR and characterization of its role in the expression of pobA, the structural gene for p-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase in Acinetobacter calcoaceticus.
abstract: We have identified pobR, a gene encoding a transcriptional activator that regulates expression of pobA, the structural gene for p-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase (PobA) in Acinetobacter calcoaceticus ADP1. Inducible expression of cloned pobA in Escherichia coli depended upon the presence of a functional pobR gene, and mutations within pobR prevented pobA expression in A. calcoaceticus. A pobA-lacZ operon fusion was used to demonstrate that pobA expression in A. calcoaceticus is enhanced up to 400-fold by the inducer p-hydroxybenzoate. Inducer concentrations as low as 10(-7) M were sufficient to elicit partial induction. Some structurally related analogs of p-hydroxybenzoate, unable to cause induction by themselves, were effective anti-inducers. The nucleotide sequence of pobR was determined, and the activator gene was shown to be transcribed divergently from pobA; the genes are separated by 134 DNA base pairs. The deduced amino acid sequence yielded a polypeptide of M(r) = 30,764. Analysis of this sequence revealed at the NH2 terminus a stretch of residues with high potential for forming a helix-turn-helix structure that could serve as a DNA-binding domain. A conservative amino acid substitution (Arg-61-->His-61) in this region inactivated PobR. The primary structure of PobR appears to be evolutionarily distinct from the four major families of NH2-terminal helix-turn-helix containing bacterial regulatory proteins that have been identified thus far.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut 06511.
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: DiMarco
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Averhoff
authors.forename: L N
authors.initials: LN
authors.lastname: Ornston
mesh_terms: D015109:4-Hydroxybenzoate-3-Monooxygenase / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics*; D016954:Acinetobacter calcoaceticus / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D003227:Conjugation, Genetic; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009876:Operon; D010226:Parabens / Q000378:metabolism; D010802:Phylogeny; D010957:Plasmids; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013379:Substrate Specificity; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D001616:beta-Galactosidase / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D010226:Parabens; C082108:PobR protein, Acinetobacter calcoaceticus; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; D014157:Transcription Factors; D015109:4-Hydroxybenzoate-3-Monooxygenase; D001616:beta-Galactosidase; C038193:4-hydroxybenzoic acid