title: The putA gene of Agrobacterium tumefaciens is transcriptionally activated in response to proline by an Lrp-like protein and is not autoregulated.
abstract: The Agrobacterium tumefaciens putA gene, which encodes proline dehydrogenase, is transcriptionally induced by exogenous proline. In contrast to the putA genes of enteric bacteria, the A. tumefaciens putA gene is not regulated by the PutA protein, as the putA promoter remained strongly proline inducible in strains lacking PutA. A putA null mutation increased the expression of the putA promoter under a variety of conditions. However, this mutation is predicted to increase the cytoplasmic concentration of proline, and this alone probably accounts for its effects on putA expression. The putA promoter was also strongly induced by valine, and the putA genotype did not affect expression by this gratuitous inducer. An open reading frame (ORF) encoding an Lrp-like protein was found transcribed divergently from putA. Disruption of this ORF, designated putR, abolished induction of the putA promoter by proline or valine. In addition to activating putA, PutR also repressed its own transcription, and this autorepression was only slightly affected by exogenous proline. The transcription start sites for the putA and putR genes are separated by 64 nucleotides, suggesting that PutR could regulate both promoters by binding to a single operator.
authors.affiliation: Section of Microbiology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Winans
mesh_terms: D016960:Agrobacterium tumefaciens / Q000235:genetics*; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D006706:Homeostasis; D026503:Low Density Lipoprotein Receptor-Related Protein-1; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011392:Proline / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011394:Proline Oxidase / Q000235:genetics*; D011971:Receptors, Immunologic / Q000235:genetics*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D015534:Trans-Activators; D015533:Transcriptional Activation; D014633:Valine
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D026503:Low Density Lipoprotein Receptor-Related Protein-1; D008565:Membrane Proteins; C080683:PutA protein, Bacteria; C096745:PutR protein, Bacteria; D011971:Receptors, Immunologic; D015534:Trans-Activators; D011392:Proline; D011394:Proline Oxidase; D014633:Valine