title: Identification and characterization of the gene encoding the Acidobacterium capsulatum major sigma factor.
abstract: Acidobacterium capsulatum is an acid-tolerant, encapsulated, Gram-negative member of the ubiquitous, but poorly understood Acidobacteria phylum. Little is known about the genetics and regulatory mechanisms of A. capsulatum. To begin to address this gap, we identified the gene encoding the A. capsulatum major sigma factor, rpoD, which encodes a 597-amino acid protein with a predicted sequence highly similar to the major sigma factors of Solibacter usitatus Ellin6076 and Geobacter sulfurreducens PCA. Purified hexahistidine-tagged RpoD migrates at approximately 70 kDa under SDS-PAGE conditions, which is consistent with the predicted MW of 69.2 kDa, and the gene product is immunoreactive with monoclonal antibodies specific for either bacterial RpoD proteins or the N-terminal histidine tag. A. capsulatum RpoD restored normal growth to E. coli strain CAG20153 under conditions that prevent expression of the endogenous rpoD. These results indicate we have cloned the gene encoding the A. capsulatum major sigma factor and the gene product is active in E. coli.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.
authors.forename: Zakee L
authors.initials: ZL
authors.lastname: Sabree
authors.forename: Veit
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bergendahl
authors.forename: Mark R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Liles
authors.forename: Richard R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Burgess
authors.forename: Robert M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Goodman
authors.forename: Jo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Handelsman
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / Q000235:genetics*; D015870:Gene Expression; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012808:Sigma Factor / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D012808:Sigma Factor; C081775:RNA polymerase sigma 70; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases