Transcriptional silencing and thermoregulation of gene expression in Escherichia coli

• Published in: Nature (London) Vol. 344; no. 6267; pp. 682 - 685
• Main Authors: Göransson, Mikael, Sondén, Berit, Nilsson, Peter, Dagberg, Björn, Foreman, Kristina, Emanuelsson, Karin, Uhlin, Bernt Eric
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing 12-04-1990; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: Addition polymerization; Adhesins, Bacterial; Amino Acid Sequence; Bacteria; Bacterial Adhesion - genetics; Bacteriology; Biochemistry; Biological and medical sciences; Cloning; Cloning, Molecular; Cyclic AMP; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; DNA, Bacterial - genetics; DNA-directed RNA polymerase; E coli; Environmental conditions; Escherichia coli - genetics; Escherichia coli - ultrastructure; Fimbriae, Bacterial - physiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; Gene silencing; Genes, Bacterial; Genetics; Hot Temperature; Laboratories; Low temperature; Medical research; Microbiology; Molecular Sequence Data; Mutation; Operon; Operons; Pili; Plasmids; Polysaccharides, Bacterial - genetics; Protein interaction; Proteins; Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid; Restriction Mapping; Ribonucleic acid; RNA; RNA, Bacterial - metabolism; RNA, Messenger - metabolism; Temperature dependence; Thermoregulation; Transcription, Genetic; Genetic mapping; Temperature; Nucleotide sequence; Transcription; Escherichia coli; Pilus; Gene expression; History; Northern blotting; Regulation(control); Analog; Bacteria; Inhibition; Locus; Aminoacid sequence; Enterobacteriaceae
• ISSN: 0028-0836; 1476-4687
• DOI: 10.1038/344682a0

Expression of specific adhesive properties by bacteria in general seems to be regulated to fit the environmental conditions. An example is the transcriptional regulation of digalactoside-specific binding by uropathogenic strains of Escherichia coli. The fimbrial structures (pili) on the bacterial surface carry the adhesin and are present during growth at 37 degrees C but are not produced by cells at lower temperatures, such as 25 degrees C. Thermoregulation of expression is due to temperature-dependent transcription of a regulatory cistron in the pilus-adhesin gene cluster. We have now identified and characterized a new regulatory locus (drdX) and show that a histone-like bacterial protein has an important role in this novel example of thermoregulation of transcription.