title: The glnAntrBC operon of Herbaspirillum seropedicae is transcribed by two oppositely regulated promoters upstream of glnA.
abstract: Herbaspirillum seropedicae is an endophytic bacterium that fixes nitrogen under microaerophilic conditions. The putative promoter sequences glnAp1 (sigma70-dependent) and glnAp2 (sigma54), and two NtrC-binding sites were identified upstream from the glnA, ntrB and ntrC genes of this microorganism. To study their transcriptional regulation, we used lacZ fusions to the H. seropedicae glnA gene, and the glnA-ntrB and ntrB-ntrC intergenic regions. Expression of glnA was up-regulated under low ammonium, but no transcription activity was detected from the intergenic regions under any condition tested, suggesting that glnA, ntrB and ntrC are co-transcribed from the promoters upstream of glnA. Ammonium regulation was lost in the ntrC mutant strain. A point mutation was introduced in the conserved -25/-24 dinucleotide (GG-->TT) of the putative sigma54-dependent promoter (glnAp2). Contrary to the wild-type promoter, glnA expression with the mutant glnAp2 promoter was repressed in the wild-type strain under low ammonium levels, but this repression was abolished in an ntrC background. Together our results indicate that the H. seropedicae glnAntrBC operon is regulated from two functional promoters upstream from glnA, which are oppositely regulated by the NtrC protein.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica e Biologia Molecular, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schwab
authors.forename: Emanuel M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Souza
authors.forename: Marshall G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Yates
authors.forename: Darlene C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Persuhn
authors.forename: M Berenice R
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Steffens
authors.forename: Leda S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Chubatsu
authors.forename: Fábio O
authors.initials: FO
authors.lastname: Pedrosa
authors.forename: Liu U
authors.initials: LU
authors.lastname: Rigo
mesh_terms: D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D042803:Herbaspirillum / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D009586:Nitrogen Fixation / Q000235:genetics*; D009876:Operon; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014157:Transcription Factors; D009584:Nitrogen