title: The hdrRM operon of Streptococcus mutans encodes a novel regulatory system for coordinated competence development and bacteriocin production.
abstract: The Streptococcus mutans hdrRM operon encodes a novel two-gene regulatory system induced by high cell density. Previous studies identified hdrM as the only known negative regulator of competence development in S. mutans. In the present study, we demonstrated that the HdrRM system bypasses the prototypical competence gene regulators ComC and ComDE in the transcriptional regulation of the competence-specific sigma factor comX and the late competence genes. Similarly, the HdrRM system can abrogate the requirement for ComE to produce the bacteriocin mutacin IV. To further probe the regulatory mechanism of hdrRM, we created an hdrR overexpression strain and showed that it could reproduce each of the hdrM competence and mutacin phenotypes, indicating that HdrM acts as a negative regulator of HdrR activity. Using a mutacin IV-luciferase reporter, we also demonstrated that the hdrRM system utilizes the same promoter elements recognized by ComE and thus appears to comprise a novel regulatory pathway parallel to ComCDE.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Biology, College of Dentistry, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73104-5419, USA.
authors.forename: Toshinori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okinaga
authors.forename: Guoqing
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Niu
authors.forename: Zhoujie
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Fengxia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Merritt
mesh_terms: D019677:Artificial Gene Fusion; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D001430:Bacteriocins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D001665:Binding Sites; D015870:Gene Expression; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D008156:Luciferases / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D008954:Models, Biological; D009876:Operon; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013295:Streptococcus mutans / Q000502:physiology*; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis; D014169:Transformation, Bacterial
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001430:Bacteriocins; C120829:ComX protein, Streptococcus; D014157:Transcription Factors; C423628:competence factor, Streptococcus; C425769:mutacin IV; D008156:Luciferases