title: Helicobacter pylori apo-Fur regulation appears unconserved across species.
abstract: The Ferric Uptake Regulator (Fur) is a transcriptional regulator that is conserved across a broad number of bacterial species and has been shown to regulate expression of iron uptake and storage genes. Additionally, Fur has been shown to be an important colonization factor of the gastric pathogen Helicobacter pylori. In H. pylori, Fur-dependent regulation appears to be unique in that Fur is able to act as a transcriptional repressor when bound to iron as well as in its iron free (apo) form. To date, apo-regulation has not been identified in any other bacterium. To determine whether Fur from other species has the capacity for apo-regulation, we investigated the ability of Fur from Escherichia coli, Campylobacter jejuni, Desulfovibrio vulgaris Hildenborough, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Vibrio cholerae to complement both iron-bound and apo-Fur regulation within the context of a H. pylori fur mutant. We found that while some Fur species (E. coli, C. jejuni, and V. cholerae) complemented iron-bound regulation, apo-regulation was unable to be complemented by any of the examined species. These data suggest that despite the conservation among bacterial Fur proteins, H. pylori Fur contains unique structure/function features that make it novel in comparison to Fur from other species.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD 20814, USA.
authors.forename: Shana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miles
authors.forename: Beth M
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Carpenter
authors.forename: Hanan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gancz
authors.forename: D Scott
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Merrell
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001059:Apoproteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D001483:Base Sequence; D016123:Campylobacter jejuni / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000235:genetics; D016969:Desulfovibrio vulgaris / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D005816:Genetic Complementation Test; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics; D011485:Protein Binding; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012329:RNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013045:Species Specificity; D014734:Vibrio cholerae / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001059:Apoproteins; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D017931:DNA Primers; D012329:RNA, Bacterial; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012097:Repressor Proteins; C068477:ferric uptake regulating proteins, bacterial; D007501:Iron