色氨酸操纵子调控机理详析

色氨酸操纵子是最早被研究的细菌合成代谢调控、基因表达调控的模型之一。其中阻遏蛋白对转录起始的抑制作用、色氨酸作为辅阻遏物的作用以及通过定点突变揭示的弱化作用的分子机制已基本被阐明。此外,色氨酸操纵子RNA结合弱化蛋白、NusA、NusG、TrpY等调节蛋白对细菌色氨酸操纵子弱化作用的调节机制也在近年来得到进一步揭示。特别是在枯草芽孢杆菌中,色氨酸操纵子主要依赖于转录衰减机制调控,包括由色氨酸激活的色氨酸操纵子RNA结合弱化蛋白与新生转录产物结合形成内部终止子,导致5′非翻译区（5′UTR）转录终止。NusA、NusG通过刺激RNA聚合酶在5′UTR的U107和U144位点暂停,释放出RNA聚合酶,最终造成转录终止。不同的是,在U144位点NusA参与的转录弱化机制依赖其发夹结构,且NusA与RNA聚合酶作用促进了RNA结合弱化蛋白与新生转录产物的结合,使转录终止。而NusG是通过与非模板DNA链中的一段富含T碱基序列和RNA聚合酶同时互作,阻止了RNA聚合酶向下游移动,从而引起RNA聚合酶高效停滞。但在细菌操纵子中,绝大多数调节因子参与的弱化机制最终依赖于ρ因子,从而导致多达一半的转录终止事件发生。近年来,随着学科的发展,越来越多关于色氨酸操纵子调节机制新概念被挖掘报道,这也使人类对色氨酸操纵子的表达调控机制的认知愈加详尽。     

Cloning of <Emphasis Type="Italic">srfA</Emphasis> operon from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacillus subtilis</Emphasis> C9 and its expression in <Emphasis Type="Italic">E. coli</Emphasis>

The srfA operon is required for the nonribosomal biosynthesis of the cyclic lipopeptide, surfactin. The srfA operon is composed of the four genes, srfAA, srfAB, srfAC, and srfAD, encoding the surfactin synthetase subunits, plus the sfp gene that encodes phosphopantetheinyl transferase. In the present study, 32 kb of the srfA operon was amplified from Bacillus subtilis C9 using a long and accurate PCR (LA-PCR), and ligated into a pIndigoBAC536 vector. The ligated plasmid was then transformed into Escherichia coli DH10B. The transformant ET2 showed positive signals to all the probes for each open reading frame (ORF) region of the srfA operon in southern hybridization, and a reduced surface tension in a culture broth. Even though the surface-active compound extracted from the E. coli transformant exhibited a different R _f value of 0.52 from B. subtilis C9 or authentic surfactin (R _f = 0.63) in a thin layer chromatography (TLC) analysis, the transformant exhibited a much higher surface-tension-reducing activity than the wild-type strain E. coli DH10B. Thus, it would appear that an intermediate metabolite of surfactin was expressed in the E. coli transformant harboring the srfA operon.     

Sequence analysis of the Brevibacterium lactofermentum trp operon

Summary Brevibacterium lactofermentum, a Gram-positive bacterium, is a commercially important amino acid producer. In this organism, the tryptophan biosynthetic enzymes are encoded within a 7725 bp HapII-BamHI fragment. Seven open reading frames were identified as trp genes by complementation tests with various B. lactofermentum and Escherichia coli tryptophan auxotrophs. Following the nomenclature established for E. coli and Serratia marcescens, the B. lactofermentum trp genes were designated trpL, trpE, trpG, trpD, trpC (including the trpF domain), trpB, and trpA. The organization of these genes is identical to that in S. marcescens. The nucleotide sequences of the putative ribosome-binding sites for the B. lactofermentum trp genes resemble those of E. coli and Bacillus subtilis. Computer analysis revealed that the trp enzymes of B. lactofermentum resemble the enzymes of the Gram-negative E. coli more closely than those of the Gram-positive B. subtilis.Abbreviations bp base pairs - kb kilobases     

Modulation of Escherichia coli tryptophan (trp) attenuation by the UGA readthrough process

Summary We constructed plasmid pAtrp46 in which lacZ gene expression is regulated by the attenuator of the Escherichia coli tryptophan (trp) operon. The attenuation of trp, which occurs in the presence of an excess of tryptophan, is reflected by a decrease in the expression of the lacZ gene of pAtrp46 in a trpR^- strain. Experiments with pAtrp46 further support our previous results (Engelberg-Kulka et al. 1982b) that suppression of a UGA termination codon by normal charged tRNA^Trp, a process called UGA readthrough, is a necessary mechanism in trp attenuation. Our experiments also suggest that plasmid pAtrp46 is useful for studies of other aspects of trp attenuation.