A microorganism's response to a harsh environment is characterized by genome-wide changes in gene expression orchestrated by factors that exert a global influence over transcription. These factors are important virulence determinants in pathogenic bacteria because they control the cell's response to the bacteriocidal conditions, such as oxidative stress, imposed by the host's immune systems. A protein from Bacillus subtilis, Spx, both negatively and positively controls transcription over a genome-wide scale in response to oxidative stress. Spx is conserved among low GC Gram-positive bacteria, bears a CXXC motif resembling an active site found in redox factors such as thioredoxin, and is controlled proteolytically by the ATP-dependent protease, C1pXP. In an oxidative environment, Spx affects transcription by interacting with the C-terminal domain of the RNA polymerase (RNAP) alpha subunit (alphaCTD), but it does not itself bind to DNA. The goal of the proposed project is to understand how Spx exerts both negative and positive transcriptional control, and how Spx concentration is regulated. The hypothesis that Spx competes for sites on alphaCTD that are targeted by transcription activators will be tested by conducting mutational analysis to identify activator and Spx interaction surfaces on alphaCTD. Spx-dependent positive control will be studied by determining the composition of the Spx-RNAP transcription complex using DNA-protein crosslinking and suppressor analysis. To further understand the redox control of Spx, the activation and repression activities of mutant versions having residue substitutions in the CXXC motif will be analyzed by in vitro transcription experiments. Thiol-specific reagents and mass spectrometry will be used to identify putative modifications of the Cys residues in the active form of Spx. The transcriptional control of the oxidative stress-induced spx gene will be studied by identifying both cis-acting and trans-acting regulatory factors. Spx proteolytic control will be studied by determining if the Zn-finger domain of the C1pX subunit of C1pXP is the site of redoxdependent regulation. The effects of oxidants on Zn release and C1pXP activity will be determined in vitro.
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