FIGURE 4.

Phase stringency of the SmcR binding for the vvpE expression. A, construction of vvpE-luxAB fusion pHS reporters. PCR fragments carrying the vvpE regulatory region with 5- or 10-bp deletions (Δ) were subcloned into pHK0011 (18) to create each pHS reporter. Solid lines, the vvpE upstream region; shaded blocks, the vvpE coding region; open blocks, the luxAB. The wild type vvpE regulatory region is shown on top with the proposed −10 and −35 regions and the binding site for SmcR (SB). The reporter pHS201 and pHS106 were used as positive controls. B, cellular luminescences were determined from the stationary phase culture (A₆₀₀ = 2.0) of V. vulnificus containing each pHS reporter as indicated. The error bars represent the S.E.