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Volume 149, Issue 12

Two MerR homologues that affect copper induction of the operon Free

Abstract

Copper ions induce expression of the operon encoding a metallochaperone, CopZ, and a CPx-type ATPase efflux protein, CopA. The promoter region contains an inverted repeat sequence similar to that recognized by the mercury-sensing MerR protein. To investigate the possible involvement of MerR homologues in regulation, null mutations were engineered affecting each of four putative MerR-type regulators: , , and . Two of these genes affected copper regulation. Mutation of (hereafter renamed ) dramatically reduced copper induction of , and purified CueR bound with high affinity to the promoter region. These results suggest that CueR is a direct regulator of transcription that mediates copper induction. Surprisingly, a mutation also reduced copper induction of . Sequence analysis suggested that was cotranscribed with , encoding a putative multidrug efflux protein. The operon is autoregulated: a mutation derepressed the promoter and purified YfmP bound the promoter region, but not the promoter region. Since the mutant strain was predicted to express elevated levels of the YfmO efflux pump, it was hypothesized that copper efflux might be responsible for the reduced induction. Consistent with this model, in a double mutant copper induction of was normal. The results demonstrate the direct regulation of the copper efflux system by CueR, and indirect regulation by a putative multidrug efflux system.

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2003-12-01
2024-04-18
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Two MerR homologues that affect copper induction of the Bacillus subtiliscopZA operon
Microbiology 149, 3413 (2003); https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.26225-0
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.26225-0
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