title: Transcription regulation of the EcoRV restriction-modification system.
abstract: When a plasmid containing restriction-modification (R-M) genes enters a naïve host, unmodified host DNA can be destroyed by restriction endonuclease. Therefore, expression of R-M genes must be regulated to ensure that enough methyltransferase is produced and that host DNA is methylated before the endonuclease synthesis begins. In several R-M systems, specialized Control (C) proteins coordinate expression of the R and the M genes. C proteins bind to DNA sequences called C-boxes and activate expression of their cognate R genes and inhibit the M gene expression, however the mechanisms remain undefined. Here, we studied the regulation of gene expression in the C protein-dependent EcoRV system. We map the divergent EcoRV M and R gene promoters and we define the site of C protein-binding that is sufficient for activation of the EcoRV R transcription.
authors.affiliation: Waksman Institute for Microbiology, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA.
authors.forename: Ekaterina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Semenova
authors.forename: Leonid
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Minakhin
authors.forename: Ekaterina
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bogdanova
authors.forename: Maxim
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nagornykh
authors.forename: Anatoliy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vasilov
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Heyduk
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Solonin
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zakharova
authors.forename: Konstantin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Severinov
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D015252:Deoxyribonucleases, Type II Site-Specific / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016366:Open Reading Frames; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012045:Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid; D015265:Site-Specific DNA-Methyltransferase (Adenine-Specific) / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D024363:Transcription Initiation Site; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; C056127:DNA modification methylase EcoRV; D015265:Site-Specific DNA-Methyltransferase (Adenine-Specific); D015252:Deoxyribonucleases, Type II Site-Specific; C027440:GATATC-specific type II deoxyribonucleases