Activation of the lac operon of Escherichia coli by a mutant FNR protein.

The FNR protein of E. coli is a transcriptional activator required for the expression of genes involved in anaerobic respiratory pathways. Site-directed mutagenesis was used to alter three amino acids in the recognition helix of the putative DNA-binding domain of FNR, with the aim of changing its specificity to that of the cyclic AMP receptor protein (CRP). In the presence of the mutant protein (FNR-215) expression of the lac operon was activated during anaerobiosis and unaffected by glucose. FNR-215 did not have a uniform effect on the expression of other cAMP-CRP-dependent genes, but the results demonstrate the fundamental similarity between FNR- and CRP-mediated transcriptional activation.