RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 Switzer, Amy A1 Evangelopoulos, Dimitrios A1 Figueira, Rita A1 de Carvalho, Luiz Pedro S. A1 Brown, Daniel R. A1 Wigneshweraraj, SivarameshYR 2018 T1 A novel regulatory factor affecting the transcription of methionine biosynthesis genes in Escherichia coli experiencing sustained nitrogen starvation JF Microbiology, VO 164 IS 11 SP 1457 OP 1470 DO https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.000683 PB Microbiology Society, SN 1465-2080, AB The initial adaptive transcriptional response to nitrogen (N) starvation in Escherichia coli involves large-scale alterations to the transcriptome mediated by the transcriptional activator, NtrC. One of these NtrC-activated genes is yeaG, which encodes a conserved bacterial kinase. Although it is known that YeaG is required for optimal survival under sustained N starvation, the molecular basis by which YeaG benefits N starved E. coli remains elusive. By combining transcriptomics with targeted metabolomics analyses, we demonstrate that the methionine biosynthesis pathway becomes transcriptionally dysregulated in ΔyeaG bacteria experiencing sustained N starvation. It appears the ability of MetJ, the master transcriptional repressor of methionine biosynthesis genes, to effectively repress transcription of genes under its control is compromised in ΔyeaG bacteria under sustained N starvation, resulting in transcriptional derepression of MetJ-regulated genes. Although the aberrant biosynthesis does not appear to be a contributing factor for the compromised viability of ΔyeaG bacteria experiencing sustained N starvation, this study identifies YeaG as a novel regulatory factor in E. coli affecting the transcription of methionine biosynthesis genes under sustained N starvation., UL https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.000683