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. 1997 Nov;179(22):7169–7173. doi: 10.1128/jb.179.22.7169-7173.1997

Evidence for transcription attenuation rendering cryptic a sigmaS-dependent promoter of the osmotically regulated proU operon of Salmonella typhimurium.

K Rajkumari 1, A Ishihama 1, J Gowrishankar 1
PMCID: PMC179661  PMID: 9371467

Abstract

The osmotically regulated proU locus in Escherichia coli has two promoters, P1 and P2, that are recognized, respectively, by the sigmaS- and sigma70-bearing RNA polymerase holoenzymes. However, the equivalent of the P1 promoter does not appear to exist in Salmonella typhimurium. We demonstrate in this study that wild-type S. typhimurium has a cryptic P1 promoter that is recognized by sigmaS RNA polymerase in vitro and that a 22-bp deletion from +63 to +84 (relative to the start site of transcription) confers sigmaS-dependent in vivo expression of a reporter gene fusion to P1. Primer extension analysis of RNA isolated from cells carrying the wild-type and mutant S. typhimurium proU constructs indicated that a primer which hybridizes proximal to +60 is able to detect P1-initiated transcripts from both constructs but a primer which hybridizes distal to +85 is able to do so only from the latter. Our results suggest that the sigmaS-controlled proU P1 promoter in S. typhimurium may be rendered cryptic because of factor-dependent transcription attenuation within a short distance downstream of the promoter start site.

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Selected References

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