Skip to main content
Journal of Bacteriology logoLink to Journal of Bacteriology
. 1996 Apr;178(7):1813–1820. doi: 10.1128/jb.178.7.1813-1820.1996

In vitro binding of the Salmonella dublin virulence plasmid regulatory protein SpvR to the promoter regions of spvA and spvR.

P Grob 1, D G Guiney 1
PMCID: PMC177874  PMID: 8606153

Abstract

The spv regulon of Salmonella dublin is essential for virulence in mice. SpvR, a LysR-type regulator, induces the expression of the spvABCD operon and its own expression in the stationary phase of bacterial growth and in macrophages. We constructed fusion proteins to the maltose-binding protein (MBP) and a His tag peptide (His) to overcome the insolubility and to facilitate purification of SpvR. We demonstrated that both fusion proteins, MBP-SpvR and His-SpvR, were able to induce spvA expression in vivo. MBP-SpvR was produced as soluble protein, whereas His-SpvR was only marginally present in the soluble cell fraction. Affinity chromatography resulted in at least 95% pure MBP-SpvR protein and in an enrichment of His-SpvR. Gel mobility shift assay revealed that the SpvR fusion proteins were able to bind to 125-and 147-bp DNA fragments of the spvA and spvR promoter regions, respectively. DNase I footprint experiments showed that the fusion proteins protected DNA regions of 54 and 50 bp within the spvA and spvR promoter regions, respectively.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (382.4 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Abe A., Kawahara K. Transcriptional regulation and promoter sequence of the spvR gene of virulence plasmid pKDSC50 in Salmonella choleraesuis serovar Choleraesuis. FEMS Microbiol Lett. 1995 Jun 15;129(2-3):225–230. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1995.tb07584.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Abe A., Matsui H., Danbara H., Tanaka K., Takahashi H., Kawahara K. Regulation of spvR gene expression of Salmonella virulence plasmid pKDSC50 in Salmonella choleraesuis serovar Choleraesuis. Mol Microbiol. 1994 Jun;12(5):779–787. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1994.tb01064.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Caldwell A. L., Gulig P. A. The Salmonella typhimurium virulence plasmid encodes a positive regulator of a plasmid-encoded virulence gene. J Bacteriol. 1991 Nov;173(22):7176–7185. doi: 10.1128/jb.173.22.7176-7185.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Carey J. Gel retardation. Methods Enzymol. 1991;208:103–117. doi: 10.1016/0076-6879(91)08010-f. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Chen C. Y., Buchmeier N. A., Libby S., Fang F. C., Krause M., Guiney D. G. Central regulatory role for the RpoS sigma factor in expression of Salmonella dublin plasmid virulence genes. J Bacteriol. 1995 Sep;177(18):5303–5309. doi: 10.1128/jb.177.18.5303-5309.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Chikami G. K., Fierer J., Guiney D. G. Plasmid-mediated virulence in Salmonella dublin demonstrated by use of a Tn5-oriT construct. Infect Immun. 1985 Nov;50(2):420–424. doi: 10.1128/iai.50.2.420-424.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Coynault C., Robbe-Saule V., Popoff M. Y., Norel F. Growth phase and SpvR regulation of transcription of Salmonella typhimurium spvABC virulence genes. Microb Pathog. 1992 Aug;13(2):133–143. doi: 10.1016/0882-4010(92)90073-w. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Ellis R. J., van der Vies S. M. Molecular chaperones. Annu Rev Biochem. 1991;60:321–347. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.60.070191.001541. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Fang F. C., Krause M., Roudier C., Fierer J., Guiney D. G. Growth regulation of a Salmonella plasmid gene essential for virulence. J Bacteriol. 1991 Nov;173(21):6783–6789. doi: 10.1128/jb.173.21.6783-6789.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Fang F. C., Libby S. J., Buchmeier N. A., Loewen P. C., Switala J., Harwood J., Guiney D. G. The alternative sigma factor katF (rpoS) regulates Salmonella virulence. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1992 Dec 15;89(24):11978–11982. doi: 10.1073/pnas.89.24.11978. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Fierer J., Eckmann L., Fang F., Pfeifer C., Finlay B. B., Guiney D. Expression of the Salmonella virulence plasmid gene spvB in cultured macrophages and nonphagocytic cells. Infect Immun. 1993 Dec;61(12):5231–5236. doi: 10.1128/iai.61.12.5231-5236.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Fierer J., Hatlen L., Lin J. P., Estrella D., Mihalko P., Yau-Young A. Successful treatment using gentamicin liposomes of Salmonella dublin infections in mice. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1990 Feb;34(2):343–348. doi: 10.1128/aac.34.2.343. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Goethals K., Van Montagu M., Holsters M. Conserved motifs in a divergent nod box of Azorhizobium caulinodans ORS571 reveal a common structure in promoters regulated by LysR-type proteins. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1992 Mar 1;89(5):1646–1650. doi: 10.1073/pnas.89.5.1646. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Guiney D. G., Fang F. C., Krause M., Libby S. Plasmid-mediated virulence genes in non-typhoid Salmonella serovars. FEMS Microbiol Lett. 1994 Nov 15;124(1):1–9. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1994.tb07253.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Gulig P. A., Danbara H., Guiney D. G., Lax A. J., Norel F., Rhen M. Molecular analysis of spv virulence genes of the Salmonella virulence plasmids. Mol Microbiol. 1993 Mar;7(6):825–830. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1993.tb01172.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Gulig P. A., Doyle T. J. The Salmonella typhimurium virulence plasmid increases the growth rate of salmonellae in mice. Infect Immun. 1993 Feb;61(2):504–511. doi: 10.1128/iai.61.2.504-511.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Hanahan D. Studies on transformation of Escherichia coli with plasmids. J Mol Biol. 1983 Jun 5;166(4):557–580. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(83)80284-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Heffernan E. J., Fierer J., Chikami G., Guiney D. Natural history of oral Salmonella dublin infection in BALB/c mice: effect of an 80-kilobase-pair plasmid on virulence. J Infect Dis. 1987 Jun;155(6):1254–1259. doi: 10.1093/infdis/155.6.1254. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Hengge-Aronis R. Survival of hunger and stress: the role of rpoS in early stationary phase gene regulation in E. coli. Cell. 1993 Jan 29;72(2):165–168. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(93)90655-a. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Hochuli E., Döbeli H., Schacher A. New metal chelate adsorbent selective for proteins and peptides containing neighbouring histidine residues. J Chromatogr. 1987 Dec 18;411:177–184. doi: 10.1016/s0021-9673(00)93969-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Hryniewicz M. M., Kredich N. M. Hydroxyl radical footprints and half-site arrangements of binding sites for the CysB transcriptional activator of Salmonella typhimurium. J Bacteriol. 1995 May;177(9):2343–2353. doi: 10.1128/jb.177.9.2343-2353.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Kowarz L., Coynault C., Robbe-Saule V., Norel F. The Salmonella typhimurium katF (rpoS) gene: cloning, nucleotide sequence, and regulation of spvR and spvABCD virulence plasmid genes. J Bacteriol. 1994 Nov;176(22):6852–6860. doi: 10.1128/jb.176.22.6852-6860.1994. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Krause M., Fang F. C., Guiney D. G. Regulation of plasmid virulence gene expression in Salmonella dublin involves an unusual operon structure. J Bacteriol. 1992 Jul;174(13):4482–4489. doi: 10.1128/jb.174.13.4482-4489.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Krause M., Fang F. C., el-Gedaily A., Libby S., Guiney D. G. Mutational analysis of SpvR binding to DNA in the regulation of the Salmonella plasmid virulence operon. Plasmid. 1995 Jul;34(1):37–47. doi: 10.1006/plas.1995.1031. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Krause M., Roudier C., Fierer J., Harwood J., Guiney D. Molecular analysis of the virulence locus of the Salmonella dublin plasmid pSDL2. Mol Microbiol. 1991 Feb;5(2):307–316. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1991.tb02111.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Loewen P. C., Hengge-Aronis R. The role of the sigma factor sigma S (KatF) in bacterial global regulation. Annu Rev Microbiol. 1994;48:53–80. doi: 10.1146/annurev.mi.48.100194.000413. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Mares R., Urbanowski M. L., Stauffer G. V. Regulation of the Salmonella typhimurium metA gene by the metR protein and homocysteine. J Bacteriol. 1992 Jan;174(2):390–397. doi: 10.1128/jb.174.2.390-397.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Maxam A. M., Gilbert W. Sequencing end-labeled DNA with base-specific chemical cleavages. Methods Enzymol. 1980;65(1):499–560. doi: 10.1016/s0076-6879(80)65059-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Maxon M. E., Wigboldus J., Brot N., Weissbach H. Structure-function studies on Escherichia coli MetR protein, a putative prokaryotic leucine zipper protein. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1990 Sep;87(18):7076–7079. doi: 10.1073/pnas.87.18.7076. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Norel F., Robbe-Saule V., Popoff M. Y., Coynault C. The putative sigma factor KatF (RpoS) is required for the transcription of the Salmonella typhimurium virulence gene spvB in Escherichia coli. FEMS Microbiol Lett. 1992 Dec 1;78(2-3):271–276. doi: 10.1016/0378-1097(92)90039-q. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Pullinger G. D., Baird G. D., Williamson C. M., Lax A. J. Nucleotide sequence of a plasmid gene involved in the virulence of salmonellas. Nucleic Acids Res. 1989 Oct 11;17(19):7983–7983. doi: 10.1093/nar/17.19.7983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Ramseier T. M., Nègre D., Cortay J. C., Scarabel M., Cozzone A. J., Saier M. H., Jr In vitro binding of the pleiotropic transcriptional regulatory protein, FruR, to the fru, pps, ace, pts and icd operons of Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium. J Mol Biol. 1993 Nov 5;234(1):28–44. doi: 10.1006/jmbi.1993.1561. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Rhen M., Riikonen P., Taira S. Transcriptional regulation of Salmonella enterica virulence plasmid genes in cultured macrophages. Mol Microbiol. 1993 Oct;10(1):45–56. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1993.tb00902.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Schell M. A. Molecular biology of the LysR family of transcriptional regulators. Annu Rev Microbiol. 1993;47:597–626. doi: 10.1146/annurev.mi.47.100193.003121. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Schlaman H. R., Okker R. J., Lugtenberg B. J. Regulation of nodulation gene expression by NodD in rhizobia. J Bacteriol. 1992 Aug;174(16):5177–5182. doi: 10.1128/jb.174.16.5177-5182.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Schwacha A., Bender R. A. The product of the Klebsiella aerogenes nac (nitrogen assimilation control) gene is sufficient for activation of the hut operons and repression of the gdh operon. J Bacteriol. 1993 Apr;175(7):2116–2124. doi: 10.1128/jb.175.7.2116-2124.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Spink J. M., Pullinger G. D., Wood M. W., Lax A. J. Regulation of spvR, the positive regulatory gene of Salmonella plasmid virulence genes. FEMS Microbiol Lett. 1994 Feb 1;116(1):113–121. doi: 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1994.tb06684.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Studier F. W., Rosenberg A. H., Dunn J. J., Dubendorff J. W. Use of T7 RNA polymerase to direct expression of cloned genes. Methods Enzymol. 1990;185:60–89. doi: 10.1016/0076-6879(90)85008-c. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. Toledano M. B., Kullik I., Trinh F., Baird P. T., Schneider T. D., Storz G. Redox-dependent shift of OxyR-DNA contacts along an extended DNA-binding site: a mechanism for differential promoter selection. Cell. 1994 Sep 9;78(5):897–909. doi: 10.1016/s0092-8674(94)90702-1. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  40. Trucksis M., Galen J. E., Michalski J., Fasano A., Kaper J. B. Accessory cholera enterotoxin (Ace), the third toxin of a Vibrio cholerae virulence cassette. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1993 Jun 1;90(11):5267–5271. doi: 10.1073/pnas.90.11.5267. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  41. Valone S. E., Chikami G. K., Miller V. L. Stress induction of the virulence proteins (SpvA, -B, and -C) from native plasmid pSDL2 of Salmonella dublin. Infect Immun. 1993 Feb;61(2):705–713. doi: 10.1128/iai.61.2.705-713.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Bacteriology are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES