Archaeal promoter architecture and mechanism of gene activation.
Sulfolobus solfataricus and Sulfolobus islandicus contain several genes exhibiting D-arabinose-inducible expression and these systems are ideal for studying mechanisms of archaeal gene expression. At sequence level, only two highly conserved cis elements are present on the promoters: a regulatory element named ara box directing arabinose-inducible expression and the basal promoter element TATA, serving as the binding site for the TATA-binding protein. Strikingly, these promoters possess a modular structure that allows an essentially inactive basal promoter to be strongly activated. The invoked mechanisms include TFB (transcription factor B) recruitment by the ara-box-binding factor to activate gene expression and modulation of TFB recruitment efficiency to yield differential gene expression.
State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, 430070 Wuhan, Hubei, China.
Nan
N
Peng
Xiang
X
Ao
Yun Xiang
YX
Liang
Qunxin
Q
She
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001089:Arabinose / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism; D001105:Archaea / Q000235:genetics*; D019848:Gene Expression Regulation, Archaeal; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D016944:Sulfolobus / Q000235:genetics; D015533:Transcriptional Activation
D001089:Arabinose