title: The Global Regulators Lrp, LeuO, and HexA Control Secondary Metabolism in Entomopathogenic Bacteria.
abstract: Photorhabdus luminescensTTO1 andXenorhabdus nematophilaHGB081 are insect pathogenic bacteria and producers of various structurally diverse bioactive natural products. In these entomopathogenic bacteria we investigated the role of the global regulators Lrp, LeuO, and HexA in the production of natural products. Lrp is a general activator of natural product biosynthesis inX. nematophilaand for most compounds in TTO1. Microarray analysis confirmed these results inX. nematophilaand enabled the identification of additional biosynthesis gene clusters (BGC) regulated by Lrp. Moreover, when promoters of twoX. nematophilaBGC were analyzed, transcriptional activation by Lrp was observed. In contrast, LeuO inX. nematophilaandP. luminescenshas both repressing and activating features, depending on the natural product examined. Furthermore, heterologous overexpression ofleuOfromX. nematophilain the closely relatedXenorhabdus szentirmaiiresulted in overproduction of several natural products including novel compounds. The presented findings could be of importance for establishing a tool for overproduction of secondary metabolites and subsequent identification of novel compounds.
authors.affiliation: Merck-Stiftungsprofessur Molekulare Biotechnologie, Molekulare Biowissenschaften, Goethe Universität Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Yvonne
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Engel
authors.affiliation: Merck-Stiftungsprofessur Molekulare Biotechnologie, Molekulare Biowissenschaften, Goethe Universität Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Carina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Windhorst
authors.affiliation: Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison WI, USA.
authors.forename: Xiaojun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, MadisonWI, USA; Department of Microbiology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, KnoxvilleTN, USA.
authors.forename: Heidi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Goodrich-Blair
authors.affiliation: Merck-Stiftungsprofessur Molekulare Biotechnologie, Molekulare Biowissenschaften, Goethe Universität FrankfurtFrankfurt am Main, Germany; Buchmann Institute for Molecular Life Sciences (BMLS), Goethe Universität FrankfurtFrankfurt am Main, Germany.
authors.forename: Helge B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Bode
keywords: Photorhabdus; Xenorhabdus; natural product; regulation of natural products; transcription factors