Regulators of expression of the oligopeptide permease A proteins of Borrelia burgdorferi. J Bacteriol 2007 Apr;189(7):2653-9
Date
01/24/2007Pubmed ID
17237172Pubmed Central ID
PMC1855802DOI
10.1128/JB.01760-06Scopus ID
2-s2.0-34147117599 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 44 CitationsAbstract
Borrelia burgdorferi undergoes an infectious cycle that requires adaptation to different hosts and marked differences in environment. B. burgdorferi copes with its different environments by regulating the expression of proteins required for survival in specific settings. The B. burgdorferi oligopeptide permease (Opp) is one of only a few transporters encoded by the B. burgdorferi genome. Opp proteins in other bacteria serve multiple environmental adaptation functions. B. burgdorferi appears to broaden the usage of this transporter by utilizing five different substrate binding proteins (OppA proteins) that interact with the integral membrane components of the transporter. Expression of the OppA proteins is individually regulated and may play different roles in adaptation to host environments. Very little is known about the mechanisms used by B. burgdorferi to regulate the expression of different OppA proteins. Here we show that the alternative sigma factors, RpoS and RpoN, regulate the expression of oppA5 but not that of other oppA genes. Using a reporter assay with Escherichia coli and gel shift binding assays, we also show that the B. burgdorferi BosR/Fur homologue interacts with the oppA4 promoter and that another candidate transcription factor, EbfC, interacts with the oppA5 promoter. Binding to the promoters was confirmed by gel shift assays. Expression of BosR/Fur in its different hosts does appear to parallel the expression of oppA4. A better understanding of the factors involved in gene regulation in B. burgdorferi will help to identify coregulated proteins that may cooperate to allow the organism to survive in a specific environment.
Author List
Medrano MS, Ding Y, Wang XG, Lu P, Coburn J, Hu LTAuthor
Jenifer Coburn PhD Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AnimalsBacterial Proteins
Base Sequence
Borrelia burgdorferi
Cloning, Molecular
DNA Primers
Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial
Membrane Transport Proteins
RNA
Recombinant Proteins
Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
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