Consensus Sequence for Escherichia coli Heat Shock Gene Promoters

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 82; no. 9; pp. 2679 - 2683
• Main Authors: Cowing, Deborah W., James C. A. Bardwell, Craig, Elizabeth A., Woolford, Carol, Hendrix, Roger W., Gross, Carol A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 01-05-1985; National Acad Sciences
• Subjects: Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Chromosome Mapping; Consensus sequence; DNA probes; DNA, Bacterial - genetics; DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases - metabolism; Escherichia coli; Escherichia coli - genetics; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene Expression Regulation; Genes; Genes, Bacterial; Heat shock proteins; Heat-Shock Proteins - genetics; Molecular and cellular biology; Molecular genetics; Operon; Plasmids; Promoter regions; RNA; RNA probes; Shock heating; Transcription, Genetic; Transcription. Transcription factor. Splicing. Rna processing; Transfer RNA; Transcription; Operon; Escherichia coli; Primary structure; Regulation(control); Transcription promotor; Gene; Heat shock protein; Initiation factor σ; Bacteria; Escherichieae; Transcription initiation; Enterobacteriaceae
• ISSN: 0027-8424; 1091-6490
• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.82.9.2679

We have identified promoters for the Escherichia coli heat shock operons dnaK and groE and the gene encoding heat shock protein C62.5. Transcription from each promoter is heat-inducible in vivo, and each is recognized in vitro by RNA polymerase containing σ32, the σ factor encoded by rpoH (htpR) but not by RNA polymerase containing σ70. We compared the sequences of the heat shock promoters and propose a consensus promoter sequence, having T-N-t-C-N-C-c-C-T-T-G-A-A in the -35 region and C-C-C-C-A-T-t-T-a in the -10 region. These sequences differ from the consensus sequence recognized by holoenzyme containing σ70, the major σ in E. coli. We suggest that the accumulated consensus sequences of promoters recognized by alternate forms of holoenzyme are compatible with a model in which σ recognizes only the -10 region of the promoter.