title: Independent transcription of glutamine synthetase (glnA2) and glutamine synthetase adenylyltransferase (glnE) in Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
abstract: Mycobacterium bovis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis possess four glutamine synthetase homologues, two of which, glnA1 and glnA2, are required for virulence and are located on the bacterial chromosome on either side of glutamine synthetase adenylyltransferase (glnE). While glnA1 is encoded on the complementary strand, glnA2 is located 48bp upstream from glnE, raising the possibility that glnA2 and glnE may be co-transcribed. However, previous studies in M. bovis and M. tuberculosis have painted a contradictory picture of the (co)transcriptional status of glnA2 and glnE. Given the importance of the genes at the glnA1-glnE-glnA2 locus, we sought to clarify the transcriptional status of glnA2 and glnE in both M. bovis and M. tuberculosis. Reverse transcription-PCR demonstrated that glnA2 and glnE were independently transcribed in all six M. bovis and M. tuberculosis strains examined. Northern analysis of the glnA2 transcript in M. bovis AF2122/97 and M. tuberculosis H37Rv showed that it was monocistronic. These results predicted the presence of a glnE transcriptional start site in the glnA2-glnE intergenic region. An identical start site was confirmed in M. bovis AF2122/97 and M. tuberculosis H37Rv using 5' rapid amplification of cDNA ends. Typical mycobacterial -10 and -35 sequences are associated with this start site.
authors.affiliation: AgResearch, Wallaceville Animal Research Centre, PO Box 40063, Upper Hutt, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Grant S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Hotter
authors.forename: Pania
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mouat
authors.forename: Desmond M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Collins
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005974:Glutamate-Ammonia Ligase / Q000378:metabolism*; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D009163:Mycobacterium bovis / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity; D009713:Nucleotidyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism*; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D015854:Up-Regulation; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D009713:Nucleotidyltransferases; C020658:glutamine-synthetase adenylyltransferase; D005974:Glutamate-Ammonia Ligase