A small protein from the bop-brp intergenic region of Halobacterium salinarum contains a zinc finger motif and regulates bop and crtB1 transcription.
Bacteriorhodopsin, the photosynthetic protein of Halobacterium salinarum, is optimally expressed under anaerobic growth conditions. We identified Brz (OE3104F, bacteriorhodopsin-regulating zinc finger protein), a new regulator of the bop gene. It is a small protein with a zinc finger motif, encoded directly upstream of the bop gene in the same orientation. Deletion of the brz gene caused a large decrease of bop mRNA levels as shown by Northern blot and microarray analysis. A similar effect was obtained by site-directed mutagenesis of Cys and His residues in the zinc finger motif, indicating the importance of this motif for the function of the protein. In silico analysis of the genomes from H. salinarum and other archaea revealed a large family of similar small zinc finger motif proteins, some of which may also be involved in transcription regulation of their adjacent genes.
Tarasov
Valery Y
VY
Max-Planck Institute of Biochemistry, Department of Membrane Biochemistry, Am Klopferspitz 18, 82152 Martinsried, Germany.
Besir
Hüseyin
H
Schwaiger
Rita
R
Klee
Kathrin
K
Furtwängler
Katarina
K
Pfeiffer
Friedhelm
F
Oesterhelt
Dieter
D
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D019843:Archaeal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001436:Bacteriorhodopsins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001483:Base Sequence; D021901:DNA, Intergenic; D019848:Gene Expression Regulation, Archaeal; D019766:Genes, Archaeal; D019617:Halobacterium salinarum / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D020411:Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D016335:Zinc Fingers
D019843:Archaeal Proteins; D021901:DNA, Intergenic; D001436:Bacteriorhodopsins