Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Bacteriology logoLink to Journal of Bacteriology
. 1990 Dec;172(12):6863–6870. doi: 10.1128/jb.172.12.6863-6870.1990

Transcriptional regulation by iron of a Vibrio cholerae virulence gene and homology of the gene to the Escherichia coli fur system.

M B Goldberg 1, S A Boyko 1, S B Calderwood 1
PMCID: PMC210804  PMID: 2174861

Abstract

We have previously described an iron-regulated virulence determinant in Vibrio cholerae. Strain MBG40, which contains a TnphoA insertion mutation in the iron-regulated gene irgA, has reduced virulence in a newborn mouse model and has lost the major 77-kDa iron-regulated outer membrane protein. We report here the cloning of the irgA'-'phoA gene fusion, the sequencing of the 5'-proximal portion of irgA, and the definition of its promoter region by primer extension. The deduced amino acid sequence of the amino-terminal portion of IrgA is homologous to the ferrienterochelin receptor of Escherichia coli (FepA), suggesting that IrgA may be the iron-vibriobactin outer membrane receptor. Iron regulation of irgA in an E. coli background and that of the E. coli gene slt-IA in a V. cholerae background are reciprocal, suggesting a common mechanism of iron regulation. Regulation of irgA by iron in V. cholerae occurs at the transcriptional level, and there is an interrupted dyad symmetric sequence in the vicinity of the promoter that is homologous to Fur binding sites of E. coli. Unlike iron-regulated genes in E. coli, however, transcription of irgA requires an additional 900 bp of upstream DNA that contains an open reading frame in inverse orientation to irgA.

Full text

PDF
6863

Images in this article

6866Image
on p.6866
6867Image
on p.6867

Selected References

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

  1. Bagg A., Neilands J. B. Mapping of a mutation affecting regulation of iron uptake systems in Escherichia coli K-12. J Bacteriol. 1985 Jan;161(1):450–453. doi: 10.1128/jb.161.1.450-453.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bindereif A., Neilands J. B. Promoter mapping and transcriptional regulation of the iron assimilation system of plasmid ColV-K30 in Escherichia coli K-12. J Bacteriol. 1985 Jun;162(3):1039–1046. doi: 10.1128/jb.162.3.1039-1046.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Bjorn M. J., Iglewski B. H., Ives S. K., Sadoff J. C., Vasil M. L. Effect of iron on yields of exotoxin A in cultures of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PA-103. Infect Immun. 1978 Mar;19(3):785–791. doi: 10.1128/iai.19.3.785-791.1978. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Bjorn M. J., Sokol P. A., Iglewski B. H. Influence of iron on yields of extracellular products in Pseudomonas aeruginosa cultures. J Bacteriol. 1979 Apr;138(1):193–200. doi: 10.1128/jb.138.1.193-200.1979. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Calderwood S. B., Mekalanos J. J. Confirmation of the Fur operator site by insertion of a synthetic oligonucleotide into an operon fusion plasmid. J Bacteriol. 1988 Feb;170(2):1015–1017. doi: 10.1128/jb.170.2.1015-1017.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Calderwood S. B., Mekalanos J. J. Iron regulation of Shiga-like toxin expression in Escherichia coli is mediated by the fur locus. J Bacteriol. 1987 Oct;169(10):4759–4764. doi: 10.1128/jb.169.10.4759-4764.1987. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Chang C. N., Kuang W. J., Chen E. Y. Nucleotide sequence of the alkaline phosphatase gene of Escherichia coli. Gene. 1986;44(1):121–125. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(86)90050-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Ditta G., Stanfield S., Corbin D., Helinski D. R. Broad host range DNA cloning system for gram-negative bacteria: construction of a gene bank of Rhizobium meliloti. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1980 Dec;77(12):7347–7351. doi: 10.1073/pnas.77.12.7347. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Goldberg M. B., DiRita V. J., Calderwood S. B. Identification of an iron-regulated virulence determinant in Vibrio cholerae, using TnphoA mutagenesis. Infect Immun. 1990 Jan;58(1):55–60. doi: 10.1128/iai.58.1.55-60.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Griffiths G. L., Sigel S. P., Payne S. M., Neilands J. B. Vibriobactin, a siderophore from Vibrio cholerae. J Biol Chem. 1984 Jan 10;259(1):383–385. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Hantke K. Cloning of the repressor protein gene of iron-regulated systems in Escherichia coli K12. Mol Gen Genet. 1984;197(2):337–341. doi: 10.1007/BF00330982. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Hantke K. Regulation of ferric iron transport in Escherichia coli K12: isolation of a constitutive mutant. Mol Gen Genet. 1981;182(2):288–292. doi: 10.1007/BF00269672. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Hawley D. K., McClure W. R. Compilation and analysis of Escherichia coli promoter DNA sequences. Nucleic Acids Res. 1983 Apr 25;11(8):2237–2255. doi: 10.1093/nar/11.8.2237. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Henikoff S., Haughn G. W., Calvo J. M., Wallace J. C. A large family of bacterial activator proteins. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1988 Sep;85(18):6602–6606. doi: 10.1073/pnas.85.18.6602. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Hovde C. J., Calderwood S. B., Mekalanos J. J., Collier R. J. Evidence that glutamic acid 167 is an active-site residue of Shiga-like toxin I. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1988 Apr;85(8):2568–2572. doi: 10.1073/pnas.85.8.2568. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Jonson G., Svennerholm A. M., Holmgren J. Vibrio cholerae expresses cell surface antigens during intestinal infection which are not expressed during in vitro culture. Infect Immun. 1989 Jun;57(6):1809–1815. doi: 10.1128/iai.57.6.1809-1815.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Kyte J., Doolittle R. F. A simple method for displaying the hydropathic character of a protein. J Mol Biol. 1982 May 5;157(1):105–132. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(82)90515-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Lipman D. J., Pearson W. R. Rapid and sensitive protein similarity searches. Science. 1985 Mar 22;227(4693):1435–1441. doi: 10.1126/science.2983426. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Lundrigan M. D., Kadner R. J. Nucleotide sequence of the gene for the ferrienterochelin receptor FepA in Escherichia coli. Homology among outer membrane receptors that interact with TonB. J Biol Chem. 1986 Aug 15;261(23):10797–10801. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Manoil C., Beckwith J. TnphoA: a transposon probe for protein export signals. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1985 Dec;82(23):8129–8133. doi: 10.1073/pnas.82.23.8129. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Mekalanos J. J., Swartz D. J., Pearson G. D., Harford N., Groyne F., de Wilde M. Cholera toxin genes: nucleotide sequence, deletion analysis and vaccine development. Nature. 1983 Dec 8;306(5943):551–557. doi: 10.1038/306551a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Michaelis S., Inouye H., Oliver D., Beckwith J. Mutations that alter the signal sequence of alkaline phosphatase in Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol. 1983 Apr;154(1):366–374. doi: 10.1128/jb.154.1.366-374.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Miller S. I., Landfear S. M., Wirth D. F. Cloning and characterization of a Leishmania gene encoding a RNA spliced leader sequence. Nucleic Acids Res. 1986 Sep 25;14(18):7341–7360. doi: 10.1093/nar/14.18.7341. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Miller V. L., Taylor R. K., Mekalanos J. J. Cholera toxin transcriptional activator toxR is a transmembrane DNA binding protein. Cell. 1987 Jan 30;48(2):271–279. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(87)90430-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Neilands J. B. Microbial envelope proteins related to iron. Annu Rev Microbiol. 1982;36:285–309. doi: 10.1146/annurev.mi.36.100182.001441. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. O'Callaghan C. H., Morris A., Kirby S. M., Shingler A. H. Novel method for detection of beta-lactamases by using a chromogenic cephalosporin substrate. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 1972 Apr;1(4):283–288. doi: 10.1128/aac.1.4.283. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Peterson K. M., Mekalanos J. J. Characterization of the Vibrio cholerae ToxR regulon: identification of novel genes involved in intestinal colonization. Infect Immun. 1988 Nov;56(11):2822–2829. doi: 10.1128/iai.56.11.2822-2829.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Pettis G. S., Brickman T. J., McIntosh M. A. Transcriptional mapping and nucleotide sequence of the Escherichia coli fepA-fes enterobactin region. Identification of a unique iron-regulated bidirectional promoter. J Biol Chem. 1988 Dec 15;263(35):18857–18863. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Sciortino C. V., Finkelstein R. A. Vibrio cholerae expresses iron-regulated outer membrane proteins in vivo. Infect Immun. 1983 Dec;42(3):990–996. doi: 10.1128/iai.42.3.990-996.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Sigel S. P., Payne S. M. Effect of iron limitation on growth, siderophore production, and expression of outer membrane proteins of Vibrio cholerae. J Bacteriol. 1982 Apr;150(1):148–155. doi: 10.1128/jb.150.1.148-155.1982. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Sigel S. P., Stoebner J. A., Payne S. M. Iron-vibriobactin transport system is not required for virulence of Vibrio cholerae. Infect Immun. 1985 Feb;47(2):360–362. doi: 10.1128/iai.47.2.360-362.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. Stoebner J. A., Payne S. M. Iron-regulated hemolysin production and utilization of heme and hemoglobin by Vibrio cholerae. Infect Immun. 1988 Nov;56(11):2891–2895. doi: 10.1128/iai.56.11.2891-2895.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Taylor R. K., Miller V. L., Furlong D. B., Mekalanos J. J. Use of phoA gene fusions to identify a pilus colonization factor coordinately regulated with cholera toxin. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1987 May;84(9):2833–2837. doi: 10.1073/pnas.84.9.2833. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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

RESOURCES