Integration host factor is involved in transcriptional regulation of the Brucella abortus virB operon

Type IV secretion systems (T4SSs) are multicomponent machineries that play an essential role in pathogenicity of many facultative intracellular bacteria. The virB operon of Brucella abortus codes for a T4SS essential for virulence and intracellular multiplication. Here, virB expression analyses carr...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Sieira, R., Comerci, D.J., Pietrasanta, L.I., Ugalde, R.A.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2004
País:Argentina
Institución:Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales
Repositorio:Biblioteca Digital (UBA-FCEN)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:paperaa:paper_0950382X_v54_n3_p808_Sieira
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_0950382X_v54_n3_p808_Sieira
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:beta galactosidase
curved DNA
deoxyribonuclease I
integration host factor
VirB protein
animal cell
article
bacterial strain
bacterial virulence
bacterium mutant
binding site
Brucella abortus
cell vacuole
consensus sequence
endoplasmic reticulum
gene overexpression
gene replication
genetic transcription
macrophage
mouse
nonhuman
operon
pathogenicity
priority journal
promoter region
protein binding
protein protein interaction
regulatory sequence
transcription initiation site
transcription regulation
Animals
Bacterial Proteins
Base Sequence
Binding Sites
Cell Line
Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial
Genes, Reporter
Integration Host Factors
Macrophages
Mice
Operon
Promoter Regions (Genetics)
Recombinant Fusion Proteins
Transcription Factors
Transcription, Genetic
Animalia
Bacteria (microorganisms)
Brucella
Brucella melitensis biovar Abortus
Negibacteria
Descripción
Sumario:Type IV secretion systems (T4SSs) are multicomponent machineries that play an essential role in pathogenicity of many facultative intracellular bacteria. The virB operon of Brucella abortus codes for a T4SS essential for virulence and intracellular multiplication. Here, virB expression analyses carried out using lacZ transcriptional fusions showed that virB promoter (PvirB) is temporally activated within J774 cells. Primer extension experiments revealed that virB transcription starts at 27 bp upstream of the first gene of the virB operon. Structural analyses showed that PvirB and regulatory sequences involved in intracellular regulation span 430 bp upstream of the transcription start site. A protein able to bind PvirB was isolated and identified. This protein, homologue to integration host factor (IHF), specifically interacts with PvirB and induces a DNA bending with an angle of 50.36°. DNAse I footprinting experiments showed that IHF protects a 51 bp region that contains two overlapped IHF binding consensus motifs. VirB expression experiments carried out with PvirB-lacZ fusions showed that in B. abortus IHF participates in the regulation of PvirB activity during the intracellular and vegetative growth in different media. A mutant strain with a 20 bp IHF binding site replacement failed to turn on the virB operon during the initial stages of macrophage infection and displayed severe intracellular multiplication defects. These data indicate that IHF plays a key role during intracellular virB operon expression being required for the biogenesis of the endoplasmic reticulum-derived replicative vacuole.