title: Role of -35 sequence and its cooperativity with vir-box for the expression of virE gene.
abstract: To elucidate the role of the -35 sequence and its cooperativity with vir box in the expression of the virE gene, various mutants were constructed by either site-directed mutation or deletional mutation of the virE promoter. The expression level of pHBAV, a mutant where its putative -35 sequences (CCGAGT) have been substituted with the consensus -35 sequences of the Escherichia coli promoter (TTGACA), was increased by 386%. pECHV, containing the conserved -35 sequence but lacking the vir box and the 5'-half of the imperfect dyad symmetry region (DSR) showed an increase of 286% in its promoter activity. pESHV, containing the conserved -35 sequence but lacking the complete 5'-upstream region from the mid-region of imperfect DSR, exhibited 244% of the native virE promoter activity. pHBCA, containing the conserved -35 sequence but destroying the vir box, was constructed by substitution of A, C, T at the positions -62, -63, and -65 on the vir-box to T, A, C, respectively. These mutations increased promoter activities by 319%. On the other hand, when the vir box was mutated from imperfect DSR to almost perfect DSR with T to A and G to T substitutions at -60 and -61 positions of the virE promoter containing the conserved -35 sequence (pHBNA), a higher activity of 671% was observed. These results demonstrate that when the putative -35 sequence of virE promoter is replaced with the consensus -35 sequence, the virE gene can be expressed independently without the binding of VirG protein to the vir-box and/or the induction of acetosyringone. Moreover, the presence of an almost perfect dyad symmetry of the vir-box can increase the expression of virE synergistically with the consensus -35 sequence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Korea University, Seoul.
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.forename: W S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Sim
mesh_terms: D016960:Agrobacterium tumefaciens / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D016384:Consensus Sequence; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D018832:Molecular Chaperones / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D017384:Sequence Deletion; D037521:Virulence Factors
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D018832:Molecular Chaperones; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D037521:Virulence Factors