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Volume 150, Issue 7

Transcriptional regulation of the ferritin gene () by redox stress Free

Abstract

This study shows that the iron-storage protein ferritin is a component of the redox-stress response in the obligate anaerobe . It is up-regulated at transcriptional level under aerobic conditions but constitutively expressed at low levels under anaerobic conditions. Northern hybridization and primer extension analysis revealed that is transcribed as a monocistronic mRNA of approximately 600 nt. Under reduced anaerobic conditions, mRNA levels were not dependent on the iron content of the culture medium. Following oxygen exposure message increased about 10-fold in iron-replete medium compared to a fourfold increase under low-iron conditions. Addition of the oxidant potassium ferricyanide induced expression of mRNA anaerobically, suggesting that the oxidation of the medium affected expression of . Two transcription initiation start sites were identified. Both transcripts were expressed constitutively under anaerobic conditions but one promoter was induced by oxidative stress or the addition of the oxidant potassium ferricyanide. The effect of redox stress on expression was further investigated by addition of diamide, a thiol-oxidizing agent, which induced mRNA levels anaerobically, suggesting that an unbalanced cellular redox state also affects expression. Induction by hydrogen peroxide and oxygen was decreased in an deletion mutant but some oxygen induction still occurred. This strongly suggests that is regulated by both the peroxide response transcriptional activator, OxyR, and another unidentified oxygen-dependent regulator. Taken together, these data show that mRNA levels are controlled by both iron and oxidative stress; this coordinated regulation may be important for survival in an adverse aerobic environment.

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
  • Revised:
  • Published Online:
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2004-07-01
2024-04-24
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Transcriptional regulation of the Bacteroides fragilis ferritin gene (ftnA) by redox stress
Microbiology 150, 2125 (2004); https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.26948-0
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.26948-0
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