title: Regulation of iron transport related genes by boron in the marine bacterium Marinobacter algicola DG893.
abstract: While there has been extensive interest in the use of boron isotope ratios as a surrogate of pH in paleoclimate studies in the context of climate change-related questions, the high (0.4 mM) concentration and the depth-independent (conservative or non-nutrient-like) concentration profile of this element have led to boron being neglected as a potentially biologically relevant element in the modern ocean. Here we report that boron affects the expression of a number of protein and genes in the "algal-associated" Gram-negative marine bacterium Marinobacter algicola DG893. Most intriguingly, a number of these proteins and genes are related to iron uptake. In a recent separate publication we have shown that boron regulates one such iron transport related protein, i.e. the periplasmic iron binding protein FbpA via a direct interaction of the metalloid with this protein. Here we show that a number of other iron uptake related genes are also affected by boron but in the opposite way i.e. they are up-regulated. We propose that the differential effect of boron on FbpA expression relative to other iron transport related genes is a result of an interaction between boron and the global iron regulatory protein Fur.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 92162-1030, USA.
authors.forename: Ariel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Romano
authors.forename: Lyndsay
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Trimble
authors.forename: Ashtian R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Hobusch
authors.forename: Kristine J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Schroeder
authors.forename: Shady A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Amin
authors.forename: Andrej D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Hartnett
authors.forename: Ryan A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Barker
authors.forename: Alvin L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Crumbliss
authors.forename: Carl J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Carrano
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D001895:Boron / Q000737:chemistry*; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007501:Iron / Q000378:metabolism*; D053520:Marinobacter / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D033902:Periplasmic Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D020543:Proteome; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D033902:Periplasmic Binding Proteins; D020543:Proteome; D012097:Repressor Proteins; C068477:ferric uptake regulating proteins, bacterial; D007501:Iron; D001895:Boron