title: Lactobacillus plantarum ccl gene is non-essential, arginine-repressed and codes for a conserved protein in Firmicutes.
abstract: Among proteins specifically found in most gram-positive bacteria of the phylum Firmicutes, conserved proteins of the family pfam06177-DUF988-COG4708 are of unknown function. The citrulline cluster-linked (ccl) gene of Lactobacillus plantarum codes one such protein and is adjacent to the citrulline biosynthesis operon argCJBDF, a situation also found in Lactococcus lactis. This gene is well conserved among L. plantarum species, and 1 isolate out of 24 harbored two ccl copies. Northern hybridization with a ccl probe revealed two arginine-repressed transcripts with sizes corresponding to the predicted argCJBDF-ccl operon and the ccl gene alone. Transcription start sites of both transcripts were characterized. Four different 5' ends were mapped at the argF-ccl intergenic region, resulting from either regulated transcription initiation or maturation of the transcripts. Transcriptional ccl-gusA gene fusion confirmed the promoter activity of the argF-ccl intergenic region. Thus, the ccl gene is arginine-repressed and transcribed both monocistronically and polycistronically in the argCJBDF-ccl operon. The ccl gene is not essential in L. plantarum, because a ccl gene deletion was obtained in strain CCM 1904. Although no functions were found in the tested laboratory conditions, the Ccl-like proteins may play a role in environmental conditions of life.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Génétique Moléculaire, Génomique et Microbiologie, Université Louis Pasteur/CNRS, 28 rue Goethe, 67083, Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: Florence
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Arsène-Ploetze
authors.forename: Hervé
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nicoloff
authors.forename: Françoise
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Bringel
mesh_terms: D001120:Arginine / Q000494:pharmacology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D002956:Citrulline / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D017353:Gene Deletion; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D048191:Lactiplantibacillus plantarum / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D002956:Citrulline; D001120:Arginine