title: Prediction and experimental testing of ferric uptake regulator regulons in vibrios.
abstract: Iron homeostasis is in many bacteria regulated by the ferric uptake regulator (Fur). Despite the available information on Fur regulons, it is likely that there are Fur-regulated genes and operons that are unique to vibrios, and knowledge into these can potentially provide new insights into vibrio virulence and pathogenesis. We constructed a vibrio-specific alignment matrix based on Fur-binding sites from the literature and used existing software (Patser) to search five published vibrio genomes and the Vibrio salmonicida draft genome for Fur-regulated genes. The consensus Fur-binding site from our matrix is 5'-AATGANAATNATTNTCATT-3'. Fur-binding motifs were found associated with 50-61 single genes and 16-20 operons in each genome. Predictions were tested by monitoring the expression of a subset of genes and operons in V. salmonicida. Six previously undescribed Fur-regulated genes showed increased expression under iron-restrictive conditions. Our work provides a comprehensive list of predicted Fur regulons in six vibrio genomes, which may be used to generate new hypotheses for future experiments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biotechnology, Institute of Medical Biology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway.
authors.forename: Rafi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hjerde
authors.forename: Geir Asmund
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Hansen
authors.forename: Peik
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Haugen
authors.forename: Nils-Peder
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Willassen
mesh_terms: D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D005809:Genes, Regulator / Q000235:genetics; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism*; D018085:Regulon / Q000235:genetics*; D014733:Vibrio / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D007501:Iron