title: Upregulation of a histone-like protein in dormant Mycobacterium smegmatis.
abstract: The aerobic saprophyte Mycobacterium smegmatis, like its pathogenic counterpart M. tuberculosis, has the ability to adapt to anaerobiosis by shifting down to a dormant state. Here, we report the identification and molecular genetic characterisation of the first dormancy-induced protein in M. smegmatis. Comparative SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of protein extracts of aerobically growing and dormant anaerobic M. smegmatis cultures revealed the upregulation of a 27-kDa protein in the dormant state. Peptide sequencing showed that the induced protein is a homologue of the histone-like protein H1p, predicted by the M. tuberculosis genome project. The corresponding hlp gene was cloned from M. smegmatis and sequenced. Disruption of the hlp gene eliminated the histone-like protein but did not affect the viability of the dormant culture.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, Singapore, Republic of Singapore.
authors.forename: B H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Murugasu-Oei
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dick
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000693:Anaerobiosis; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D048670:MAP Kinase Kinase 4; D020929:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D020102:Mycobacterium smegmatis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011494:Protein Kinases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C075779:Hbsu protein, bacteria; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D011494:Protein Kinases; D048031:JNK Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases; D048670:MAP Kinase Kinase 4; D020929:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Kinases