Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Bacteriology logoLink to Journal of Bacteriology
. 1996 Sep;178(18):5447–5451. doi: 10.1128/jb.178.18.5447-5451.1996

Regulation of RNA polymerase sigma subunit synthesis in Escherichia coli: intracellular levels of four species of sigma subunit under various growth conditions.

M Jishage 1, A Iwata 1, S Ueda 1, A Ishihama 1
PMCID: PMC178365  PMID: 8808934

Abstract

By a quantitative Western immunoblot analysis, the intracellular levels of two principal sigma subunits, sigma 70 (sigma D, the rpoD gene product) and sigma 38 (sigma S, the rpoS gene product), and of two minor sigma subunits, sigma 54 (sigma N, the rpoN gene product) and sigma 28 (sigma F, the rpoF gene product), were determined in two Escherichia coli strains, W3110 and MC4100. The results indicated that the levels of sigma 54 and sigma 28 are maintained at 10 and 50%, respectively, of the level of sigma 70 in both strains growing at both exponential and stationary phases, but in agreement with the previous measurement for strain MC4100 (M. Jishage and A. Ishihama, J. Bacteriol. 177:6832-6835, 1995), the level of sigma 38 was undetectable at the exponential growth phase but increased at 30% of the level of sigma 70 at the stationary phase. Stress-coupled change in the intracellular level was observed for two sigma subunits: (i) the increase in sigma 38 level and the decrease in sigma 28 level upon exposure to heat shock at the exponential phase and (ii) the increase in sigma 38 level under high-osmolality conditions at both the exponential and stationary phases.

Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (1.5 MB).

Selected References

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

  1. Adler J., Templeton B. The effect of environmental conditions on the motility of Escherichia coli. J Gen Microbiol. 1967 Feb;46(2):175–184. doi: 10.1099/00221287-46-2-175. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Angerer A., Enz S., Ochs M., Braun V. Transcriptional regulation of ferric citrate transport in Escherichia coli K-12. Fecl belongs to a new subfamily of sigma 70-type factors that respond to extracytoplasmic stimuli. Mol Microbiol. 1995 Oct;18(1):163–174. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1995.mmi_18010163.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Arnosti D. N., Chamberlin M. J. Secondary sigma factor controls transcription of flagellar and chemotaxis genes in Escherichia coli. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1989 Feb;86(3):830–834. doi: 10.1073/pnas.86.3.830. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Castaño I., Bastarrachea F. glnF-lacZ fusions in Escherichia coli: studies on glnF expression and its chromosomal orientation. Mol Gen Genet. 1984;195(1-2):228–233. doi: 10.1007/BF00332751. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Danese P. N., Snyder W. B., Cosma C. L., Davis L. J., Silhavy T. J. The Cpx two-component signal transduction pathway of Escherichia coli regulates transcription of the gene specifying the stress-inducible periplasmic protease, DegP. Genes Dev. 1995 Feb 15;9(4):387–398. doi: 10.1101/gad.9.4.387. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Erickson J. W., Gross C. A. Identification of the sigma E subunit of Escherichia coli RNA polymerase: a second alternate sigma factor involved in high-temperature gene expression. Genes Dev. 1989 Sep;3(9):1462–1471. doi: 10.1101/gad.3.9.1462. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Erickson J. W., Vaughn V., Walter W. A., Neidhardt F. C., Gross C. A. Regulation of the promoters and transcripts of rpoH, the Escherichia coli heat shock regulatory gene. Genes Dev. 1987 Jul;1(5):419–432. doi: 10.1101/gad.1.5.419. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Garcia E., Bancroft S., Rhee S. G., Kustu S. The product of a newly identified gene, gInF, is required for synthesis of glutamine synthetase in Salmonella. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Apr;74(4):1662–1666. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.4.1662. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Gillen K. L., Hughes K. T. Molecular characterization of flgM, a gene encoding a negative regulator of flagellin synthesis in Salmonella typhimurium. J Bacteriol. 1991 Oct;173(20):6453–6459. doi: 10.1128/jb.173.20.6453-6459.1991. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Helmann J. D. Alternative sigma factors and the regulation of flagellar gene expression. Mol Microbiol. 1991 Dec;5(12):2875–2882. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1991.tb01847.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Helmann J. D., Chamberlin M. J. Structure and function of bacterial sigma factors. Annu Rev Biochem. 1988;57:839–872. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.57.070188.004203. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Hengge-Aronis R., Lange R., Henneberg N., Fischer D. Osmotic regulation of rpoS-dependent genes in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1993 Jan;175(1):259–265. doi: 10.1128/jb.175.1.259-265.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. 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]
  14. Hughes K. T., Gillen K. L., Semon M. J., Karlinsey J. E. Sensing structural intermediates in bacterial flagellar assembly by export of a negative regulator. Science. 1993 Nov 19;262(5137):1277–1280. doi: 10.1126/science.8235660. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Jishage M., Ishihama A. Regulation of RNA polymerase sigma subunit synthesis in Escherichia coli: intracellular levels of sigma 70 and sigma 38. J Bacteriol. 1995 Dec;177(23):6832–6835. doi: 10.1128/jb.177.23.6832-6835.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Kawakami K., Saitoh T., Ishihama A. Biosynthesis of RNA polymerase in Escherichia coli. IX. Growth-dependent variations in the synthesis rate, content and distribution of RNA polymerase. Mol Gen Genet. 1979 Jul 13;174(2):107–116. doi: 10.1007/BF00268348. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Kohara Y., Akiyama K., Isono K. The physical map of the whole E. coli chromosome: application of a new strategy for rapid analysis and sorting of a large genomic library. Cell. 1987 Jul 31;50(3):495–508. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90503-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Lange R., Hengge-Aronis R. Identification of a central regulator of stationary-phase gene expression in Escherichia coli. Mol Microbiol. 1991 Jan;5(1):49–59. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1991.tb01825.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Li C., Louise C. J., Shi W., Adler J. Adverse conditions which cause lack of flagella in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1993 Apr;175(8):2229–2235. doi: 10.1128/jb.175.8.2229-2235.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Liu X., Fujita N., Ishihama A., Matsumura P. The C-terminal region of the alpha subunit of Escherichia coli RNA polymerase is required for transcriptional activation of the flagellar level II operons by the FlhD/FlhC complex. J Bacteriol. 1995 Sep;177(17):5186–5188. doi: 10.1128/jb.177.17.5186-5188.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. 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]
  22. Macnab R. M. Genetics and biogenesis of bacterial flagella. Annu Rev Genet. 1992;26:131–158. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ge.26.120192.001023. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Magasanik B. Genetic control of nitrogen assimilation in bacteria. Annu Rev Genet. 1982;16:135–168. doi: 10.1146/annurev.ge.16.120182.001031. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Merrick M. J. In a class of its own--the RNA polymerase sigma factor sigma 54 (sigma N). Mol Microbiol. 1993 Dec;10(5):903–909. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1993.tb00961.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Muffler A., Traulsen D. D., Lange R., Hengge-Aronis R. Posttranscriptional osmotic regulation of the sigma(s) subunit of RNA polymerase in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1996 Mar;178(6):1607–1613. doi: 10.1128/jb.178.6.1607-1613.1996. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Ohnishi K., Kutsukake K., Suzuki H., Iino T. Gene fliA encodes an alternative sigma factor specific for flagellar operons in Salmonella typhimurium. Mol Gen Genet. 1990 Apr;221(2):139–147. doi: 10.1007/BF00261713. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Ohnishi K., Kutsukake K., Suzuki H., Lino T. A novel transcriptional regulation mechanism in the flagellar regulon of Salmonella typhimurium: an antisigma factor inhibits the activity of the flagellum-specific sigma factor, sigma F. Mol Microbiol. 1992 Nov;6(21):3149–3157. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2958.1992.tb01771.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Popham D., Keener J., Kustu S. Purification of the alternative sigma factor, sigma 54, from Salmonella typhimurium and characterization of sigma 54-holoenzyme. J Biol Chem. 1991 Oct 15;266(29):19510–19518. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Prüss B. M., Matsumura P. A regulator of the flagellar regulon of Escherichia coli, flhD, also affects cell division. J Bacteriol. 1996 Feb;178(3):668–674. doi: 10.1128/jb.178.3.668-674.1996. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Raina S., Missiakas D., Georgopoulos C. The rpoE gene encoding the sigma E (sigma 24) heat shock sigma factor of Escherichia coli. EMBO J. 1995 Mar 1;14(5):1043–1055. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1995.tb07085.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Shi W., Li C., Louise C. J., Adler J. Mechanism of adverse conditions causing lack of flagella in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1993 Apr;175(8):2236–2240. doi: 10.1128/jb.175.8.2236-2240.1993. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Shi W., Zhou Y., Wild J., Adler J., Gross C. A. DnaK, DnaJ, and GrpE are required for flagellum synthesis in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1992 Oct;174(19):6256–6263. doi: 10.1128/jb.174.19.6256-6263.1992. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Shin S., Park C. Modulation of flagellar expression in Escherichia coli by acetyl phosphate and the osmoregulator OmpR. J Bacteriol. 1995 Aug;177(16):4696–4702. doi: 10.1128/jb.177.16.4696-4702.1995. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Silverman M., Simon M. I. Bacterial flagella. Annu Rev Microbiol. 1977;31:397–419. doi: 10.1146/annurev.mi.31.100177.002145. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Straus D. B., Walter W. A., Gross C. A. The heat shock response of E. coli is regulated by changes in the concentration of sigma 32. Nature. 1987 Sep 24;329(6137):348–351. doi: 10.1038/329348a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Yura T., Nagai H., Mori H. Regulation of the heat-shock response in bacteria. Annu Rev Microbiol. 1993;47:321–350. doi: 10.1146/annurev.mi.47.100193.001541. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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

RESOURCES