A novel XRE family regulator that controls antibiotic production and development in Streptomyces coelicolor.

Although the genome of the Streptomyces model strain S. coelicolor was sequenced nearly two decades ago, the function of many annotated genes has not been verified, including that of gene sco1979, which was predicted to encode a transcriptional regulator of the xenobiotic response element (XRE) family. In this study, we showed that SCO1979 represses its own transcription and that deletion of sco1979 from S. coelicolor markedly enhanced production of three antibiotics, which are actinorhodin (ACT), undecylprodigiosin (RED), and calcium-dependent antibiotic (CDA), suggesting that SCO1979 represses their biosynthesis. We demonstrated that transcription of genes in the ACT, RED, and CDA pathways was generally increased in the mutant strain Δ1979 compared with levels in the wild-type strain M145. Additionally, purified recombinant SCO1979 interacted with DNA sequences upstream of sco1979 and actII-orf4, redZ, and cdaR, the pathway-specific regulators for the three pathways, implying that SCO1979 potentially regulates the ACT, RED, and CDA pathways via their specific regulators. In addition, disruption of sco1979 led to the notably delayed formation of aerial mycelium and spores, and consistent with this, transcription of genes associated with aerial hyphae and spore formation, such as chp and rdl, and ram, was reduced in Δ1979, implying the involvement of SCO1979 in cellular development control as well. In summary, our findings demonstrated that SCO1979 is a pleiotropic regulator with roles in both secondary metabolism and morphological development in S. coelicolor. KEY POINTS: • SCO1979 is a novel Streptomyces regulator of the XRE family. • SCO1979 regulates its own transcription. • SCO1979 regulates antibiotic production and cellular development.