title: DNA-binding activity of amino-terminal domains of the Bacillus subtilis AbrB protein.
abstract: Two truncated variants of AbrB, comprising either its first 53 (AbrBN53) or first 55 (AbrBN55) amino acid residues, were constructed and purified. Noncovalently linked homodimers of the truncated variants exhibited very weak DNA-binding activity. Cross-linking AbrBN55 dimers into tetramers and higher-order multimers (via disulfide bonding between penultimate cysteine residues) resulted in proteins having DNA-binding affinity comparable to and DNA-binding specificity identical to those of intact, wild-type AbrB. These results indicate that the DNA recognition and specificity determinants of AbrB binding lie solely within its N-terminal amino acid sequence.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cellular Biology, Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California 92037, USA.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Strauch
mesh_terms: D020816:Amino Acid Motifs; D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000235:genetics*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001665:Binding Sites; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000378:metabolism; D011485:Protein Binding; D011487:Protein Conformation; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: C060762:AbrB protein, Bacillus subtilis; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D014157:Transcription Factors