title: Regulation of chitinase production by the 5'-untranslated region of the ybfM in Serratia marcescens 2170.
abstract: Serratia marcescens 2170 produces three chitinases and the chitin-binding protein CBP21, and efficiently degrades insoluble and crystalline chitin. The three chitinases and CBP21 are induced by N,N'-diacetylchitobiose [(GlcNAc)₂], the major product of chitin hydrolysis by S. marcescens chitinases. We have found that uptake of both (GlcNAc)₂ and N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) is important for the efficient utilization of (GlcNAc)₂ because (GlcNAc)₂ is less efficiently fermented by S. marcescens 2170 in the absence of chitobiase. In order to determine the mechanism of utilization of the degradation products of chitin by S. marcescens, chitobiase deficient transposon mutants were screened. A transposon present in chitobiase-deficient mutants was inserted into the ybfMN-ctb cluster. The mutants produced chitinases, except for TT327, in which a transposon was inserted into the 5'-untranslated region (5'-UTR) of ybfM. Ectopic expression of this region in TT327 restored chitinase production. These results indicate that the 5'-UTR of ybfM is important for chitinase induction in S. marcescens.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Science and Technology, Niigata University, Niigata, Japan.
authors.forename: Tadayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Toratani
authors.forename: Kazushi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Mari
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shimizu
authors.forename: Hayuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sugimoto
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Watanabe
mesh_terms: D020121:5' Untranslated Regions / Q000235:genetics*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002688:Chitinases / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements / Q000235:genetics; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family / Q000235:genetics; D009154:Mutation; D010641:Phenotype; D012706:Serratia marcescens / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D020121:5' Untranslated Regions; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004251:DNA Transposable Elements; D002688:Chitinases