Welch T J, Bartlett D H
Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0202, USA.
Mol Microbiol. 1998 Mar;27(5):977-85. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2958.1998.00742.x.
Here, we report the characterization of a gene necessary for hydrostatic pressure regulation of gene expression in the deep-sea bacterium Photobacterium species strain SS9. The deduced amino acid sequence of the gene product shares extensive similarity to ToxR, a transmembrane DNA-binding protein first discovered as a virulence determinant in the pathogenic bacterium Vibrio cholerae. Changes in hydrostatic pressure induce changes in both the abundance and the activity of the SS9 ToxR protein (or the activity of a ToxR-regulated protein). As with other high-pressure-inducible phenomena observed in higher organisms, anaesthetics antagonize high-pressure signalling mediated by ToxR. It is suggested that SS9 ToxR has evolved the ability to respond to pressure-mediated alterations in membrane structure. V. cholerae and SS9 also share similarity in a ToxR-regulated protein, indicating that part of the ToxR regulon is conserved in diverse members of the family Vibrionaceae. The SS9 ToxR system represents a useful model for studies of signal transduction and environmental adaptation in the largest portion of the biosphere, the deep sea.
在此，我们报道了一种基因的特性，该基因对于深海细菌费氏弧菌（Photobacterium species）菌株SS9中基因表达的静水压力调节是必需的。该基因产物的推导氨基酸序列与ToxR具有广泛的相似性，ToxR是一种跨膜DNA结合蛋白，最初作为致病细菌霍乱弧菌中的毒力决定因素被发现。静水压力的变化会导致SS9 ToxR蛋白的丰度和活性（或ToxR调节蛋白的活性）发生变化。与在高等生物中观察到的其他高压诱导现象一样，麻醉剂会拮抗由ToxR介导的高压信号传导。有人提出，SS9 ToxR已经进化出对压力介导的膜结构改变作出反应的能力。霍乱弧菌和SS9在一种ToxR调节蛋白中也具有相似性，这表明ToxR调控子的一部分在弧菌科的不同成员中是保守的。SS9 ToxR系统代表了一个有用的模型，用于研究生物圈最大部分即深海中的信号转导和环境适应性。
