Li Kuanyu, Pasternak Cécile, Härtig Elisabeth, Haberzettl Kerstin, Maxwell Anthony, Klug Gabriele
Institut für Mikrobiologie und Molekularbiologie, University of Giessen, Heinrich-Buff-Ring 26-32, D-35392 Giessen, Germany.
Nucleic Acids Res. 2004 Aug 24;32(15):4563-75. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkh794. Print 2004.
The expression of many genes of facultatively photosynthetic bacteria of the genus Rhodobacter is controlled by the oxygen tension. Among these are the genes of the puf and puc operons, which encode proteins of the photosynthetic apparatus. Previous results revealed that thioredoxins are involved in the regulated expression of these operons, but it remained unsolved as to the mechanisms by which thioredoxins affect puf and puc expression. Here we show that reduced TrxA of Rhodobacter capsulatus and Rhodobacter sphaeroides and oxidized TrxC of R.capsulatus interact with DNA gyrase and alter its DNA supercoiling activity. While TrxA enhances supercoiling, TrxC exerts a negative effect on this activity. Furthermore, inhibition of gyrase activity strongly reduces puf and puc expression. Our results reveal a new signaling pathway by which oxygen can affect the expression of bacterial genes.
红杆菌属兼性光合细菌的许多基因表达受氧张力控制。其中包括puf和puc操纵子的基因,它们编码光合装置的蛋白质。先前的结果表明硫氧还蛋白参与了这些操纵子的调控表达,但硫氧还蛋白影响puf和puc表达的机制仍未解决。在这里,我们表明,荚膜红杆菌和球形红杆菌的还原型TrxA以及荚膜红杆菌的氧化型TrxC与DNA促旋酶相互作用并改变其DNA超螺旋活性。虽然TrxA增强超螺旋,但TrxC对该活性产生负面影响。此外,促旋酶活性的抑制强烈降低puf和puc表达。我们的结果揭示了一种新的信号通路,通过该通路氧气可以影响细菌基因的表达。