title: Nitrogen starvation-induced transcriptome alterations and influence of transcription regulator mutants in Mycobacterium smegmatis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  As other bacteria, Mycobacterium smegmatis needs adaption mechanisms to cope with changing nitrogen sources and to survive situations of nitrogen starvation. In the study presented here, transcriptome analyses were used to characterize the response of the bacterium to nitrogen starvation and to elucidate the role of specific transcriptional regulators.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In response to nitrogen deprivation, a general starvation response is induced in M. smegmatis. This includes changes in the transcription of several hundred genes encoding e.g. transport proteins, proteins involved in nitrogen metabolism and regulation, energy generation and protein turnover. The specific nitrogen-related changes at the transcriptional level depend mainly on the presence of GlnR, while the AmtR protein controls only a small number of genes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  M. smegmatis is able to metabolize a number of different nitrogen sources and nitrogen control in M. smegmatis is similar to control mechanisms characterized in streptomycetes, while the master regulator of nitrogen control in corynebacteria, AmtR, is plays a minor role in this regulatory network.
authors.affiliation: Lehrstuhl für Mikrobiologie, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany. aburkov@biologie.uni-erlangen.de.
authors.forename: Nadja
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Jeßberger
authors.forename: Yinhua
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Amon
authors.forename: Fritz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Titgemeyer
authors.forename: Sophia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sonnewald
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Reid
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Burkovski
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D005809:Genes, Regulator; D058977:Molecular Sequence Annotation; D020102:Mycobacterium smegmatis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000172:deficiency*; D012097:Repressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D015534:Trans-Activators / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D059467:Transcriptome
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D012097:Repressor Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; D009584:Nitrogen