The light organ symbiont Vibrio fischeri possesses a homolog of the Vibrio cholerae transmembrane transcriptional activator ToxR.

A cross-hybridizing DNA fragment to Vibrio cholerae toxR was cloned from the nonpathogenic light organ symbiont Vibrio fischeri, and three proteins homologous to V. cholerae ToxR, ToxS, and HtpG were deduced from its DNA sequence. V. fischeri ToxR was found to activate a V. cholerae ToxR-regulated promoter, and an antiserum raised against the amino-terminal domain of V. cholerae ToxR cross-reacts V. fischeri ToxR.