大肠杆菌棉子糖操纵子α—半乳糖苷酶表达的调节控制

The alpha-galactosidase, coded for by the first structural gene rafA in the plasmid determined raf operon was an inducible enzyme. In contrast to lac or mel operon, raf operon has more strict structural specificity for inducers. The enzyme can be induced by melibiose and raffinose, or weakly by D-galactose, but not by structurally related sugars such as lactose, PNPG etc.. The alpha-galactosidase forming capacity as function of growth curve reached a single peak at the end of the logarithmic phase of the growth. The structure and regulation of raf operon is similar to those of lac operon. The repressormor-mediated negative control plays a major role in the regulation of raf operon, and cAMP-CAP mediated positive control is also involved in the regulation. When 0.4% glucose was added into the medium with other carbon sources, the expression of the enzyme was repressed by 2-3 fold. Transient catabolite repression has been observed neither in inducible nor constitutive alpha-galactosidase expression. Based on alpha-galactosidase assay, in mutant strains CA8306(cya) and CA8445 (cya, crp) the expression level of raf operon was only 9% and 2.5% of that in wild type strain respectively. The glucose effect or the repression in cya mutant can be abolished by 1-5 mmol cAMP. The constitutive alpha-galactosidase expression in cya and cry double mutant (CA8445) remains repressible by glucose, but irreversible by cAMP, suggesting cAMP-CAP complex is not the exclusive mediator of the catablite repression.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Cyclic AMP and cell division in Escherichia coli.

We examined several aspects of cell division regulation in Escherichia coli which have been thought to be controlled by cyclic AMP (cAMP) and its receptor protein (CAP). Mutants lacking adenyl cyclase (cya) or CAP (crp) were rod shaped, not spherical, during exponential growth in LB broth or glucose-Casamino Acids medium, and lateral wall elongation was normal; in broth, stationary-phase cells became ovoid. Cell mass was smaller for the mutants than for the wild type, but it remained appropriate for their slower growth rate and thus probably does not reflect early (uncontrolled) septation. The slow growth did not seem to reflect a gross metabolic disorder, since the mutants gave a normal yield on limiting glucose; surprisingly, however, the cya mutant (unlike crp) was unable to grow anaerobically on glucose, suggesting a role for cAMP (but not for CAP) in the expression of some fermentation enzyme. Both cya and crp mutants are known to be resistant to mecillinam, an antibiotic which inhibits penicillin-binding protein 2 (involved in lateral wall elongation) and also affects septation. This resistance does not reflect a lack of PBP2. Furthermore, it was not simply the result of slow growth and small cell mass, since small wild-type cells growing in acetate remained sensitive. The cAMP-CAP complex may regulate the synthesis of some link between PBP2 and the septation apparatus. The ftsZ gene, coding for a cell division protein, was expressed at a higher level in the absence of cAMP, as measured with an ftsZ::lacZ fusion, but the amount of protein per cell, shown by others to be invariable over a 10-fold range of cell mass, was independent of cAMP, suggesting that ftsZ expression is not regulated by the cAMP-CAP complex.     

Control mechanism of the Escherichia coli K-12 cell cycle is triggered by the cyclic AMP-cyclic AMP receptor protein complex.

The role of cyclic AMP (cAMP) in the cell cycle of Escherichia coli K-12 was studied in three mutant strains. One was KI1812, in which the cya promoter is replaced by the lacUV5 promoter. In KI1812, isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside induced the synthesis of cya mRNA, and at the same time cell division was inhibited and short filaments containing multiple nuclei were formed. The other strains were constructed as double mutants (NC6707 cya sulB [ftsZ(Ts)] and TR3318 crp sulB [ftsZ(Ts)]). In both double mutants, filamentation was repressed at 42 degrees C, but it was induced again by addition of cAMP in strain NC6707 and introduction of pHA7 containing wild-type crp in TR3318. These results indicate that lateral wall synthesis in the E. coli cell cycle is triggered by the cAMP-cAMP receptor protein complex.     

Effect of DNA looping on the induction kinetics of the lac operon

The induction of the lac operon follows cooperative kinetics. The first mechanistic model of these kinetics is the de facto standard in the modeling literature [Yagil, G., Yagil, E., 1971. On the relation between effector concentration and the rate of induced enzyme synthesis. Biophys. J. 11, 11-17]. Yet, subsequent studies have shown that the model is based on incorrect assumptions. Specifically, the repressor is a tetramer with four (not two) inducer-binding sites, and the operon contains two auxiliary operators (in addition to the main operator). Furthermore, these structural features are crucial for the formation of DNA loops, the key determinants of lac repression and induction. Indeed, the repression is determined almost entirely (>95%) by the looped complexes [Oehler, S., Eismann, E.R., Kr?mer, H., Müller-Hill, B., 1990. The three operators of the lac operon cooperate in repression. EMBO J. 9(4), 973-979], and the pronounced cooperativity of the induction curve hinges upon the existence of the looped complexes [Oehler, S., Alberti, S., Müller-Hill, B., 2006. Induction of the lac promoter in the absence of DNA loops and the stoichiometry of induction. Nucleic Acids Res. 34(2), 606-612]. Here, we formulate a model of lac induction taking due account of the tetrameric structure of the repressor and the existence of looped complexes. We show that: (1) The kinetics are significantly more cooperative than those predicted by the Yagil and Yagil model. The cooperativity is higher because the formation of looped complexes is easily abolished by repressor-inducer binding. (2) The model provides good fits to the repression data for cells containing wild-type tetrameric or mutant dimeric repressor, as well as the induction curves for 6 different strains of Escherichia coli. It also implies that the ratios of certain looped and non-looped complexes are independent of inducer and repressor levels, a conclusion that can be rigorously tested by gel electrophoresis. (3) Repressor overexpression dramatically increases the cooperativity of the induction curve. This suggests that repressor overexpression can induce bistability in systems, such as growth of E. coli on lactose, that are otherwise monostable.