title: Repression of motility during fimbrial expression: identification of 14 mrpJ gene paralogues in Proteus mirabilis.
abstract: Proteus mirabilis alternates between motile and adherent forms. MrpJ, a transcriptional regulator previously reported to repress motility, is encoded at the 3' end of the mrp fimbrial operon in P. mirabilis. Sequencing of the P. mirabilis genome revealed 14 additional paralogues of mrpJ, 10 of which are associated with fimbrial operons. Twelve of these genes, when overexpressed, repressed motility; several distinct patterns of swarming motility were noted. Expression of 10 of the 14 mrpJ paralogues repressed flagellin (FlaA) synthesis. Alignment of the predicted amino acid sequences of MrpJ and its 14 paralogues revealed a conserved consensus motif (SQQQFSRYE) within the helix-turn-helix domain. Site-directed mutagenesis of these residues coupled with linker insertion mutagenesis of MrpJ confirmed the importance of this domain for repression of motility. Gel shift assays demonstrated that MrpJ and another paralogue UcaJ bind directly to the promoter region of the flagellar master regulator flhDC. Thus, P. mirabilis appears to use a related mechanism to inhibit motility during the production of at least 10 of its predicted fimbriae.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-0620, USA.
authors.forename: Melanie M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Pearson
authors.forename: Harry L T
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Mobley
mesh_terms: D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D024202:Electrophoretic Mobility Shift Assay; D010861:Fimbriae, Bacterial / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure; D005408:Flagellin / Q000096:biosynthesis; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D019077:Helix-Turn-Helix Motifs; D008124:Locomotion; D046529:Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D009876:Operon; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D011485:Protein Binding; D011513:Proteus mirabilis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; C436707:MrpJ protein, Proteus mirabilis; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D005408:Flagellin; C067138:flaA protein, bacteria