title: Subdivision of the helix-turn-helix GntR family of bacterial regulators in the FadR, HutC, MocR, and YtrA subfamilies.
abstract: Haydon and Guest (Haydon, D. J, and Guest, J. R. (1991) FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 63, 291-295) first described the helix-turn-helix GntR family of bacterial regulators. They presented them as transcription factors sharing a similar N-terminal DNA-binding (d-b) domain, but they observed near-maximal divergence in the C-terminal effector-binding and oligomerization (E-b/O) domain. To elucidate this C-terminal heterogeneity, structural, phylogenetic, and functional analyses were performed on a family that now comprises about 270 members. Our comparative study first focused on the C-terminal E-b/O domains and next on DNA-binding domains and palindromic operator sequences, has classified the GntR members into four subfamilies that we called FadR, HutC, MocR, and YtrA. Among these subfamilies a degree of similarity of about 55% was observed throughout the entire sequence. Structure/function associations were highlighted although they were not absolutely stringent. The consensus sequences deduced for the DNA-binding domain were slightly different for each subfamily, suggesting that fusion between the D-b and E-b/O domains have occurred separately, with each subfamily having its own D-b domain ancestor. Moreover, the compilation of the known or predicted palindromic cis-acting elements has highlighted different operator sequences according to our subfamily subdivision. The observed C-terminal E-b/O domain heterogeneity was therefore reflected on the DNA-binding domain and on the cis-acting elements, suggesting the existence of a tight link between the three regions involved in the regulating process.
authors.affiliation: Centre d'Ingénierie des Protéines, Université de Liège, Institut de Chimie B6, Sart-Tilman, B-4000 Liège, Belgium. srigali@student.ulg.ac.be
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rigali
authors.forename: Adeline
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Derouaux
authors.forename: Fabrizio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Giannotta
authors.forename: Jean
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Dusart
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001483:Base Sequence; D001704:Biopolymers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; D019077:Helix-Turn-Helix Motifs; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001704:Biopolymers; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; C057119:FadR protein, Bacteria; C081598:GntR protein, E coli; C089120:HutC protein, Klebsiella aerogenes; C091785:MocR protein, Rhizobium meliloti; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors