Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Dr Leendert Hamoen
Full text for this publication is not currently held within this repository. Alternative links are provided below where available.
During the development of competence inBacillus subtilis the recA gene is activated by the competence transcription factor, ComK, which is presumably required to alleviate the transcriptional repression of recA by LexA. To investigate the mechanism by which ComK activatesrecA transcription we examined the binding of ComK and LexA to the recA promoter in vitro. Using hydroxyl radical protection analyses to establish the location of ComK dimer-binding sites within the recA promoter, we identified four AT-boxes in a configuration unique for ComK-regulated promoters. Gel mobility shift experiments showed that all four ComK dimer-binding sites were occupied at ComK concentrations in the physiological range. In addition, occupation of all ComK-binding sites did not prevent LexA from binding to the recA promoter, despite the fact that the ComK and LexA recognition motifs partially overlap. Although ComK did not replace LexA from the recA promoter, in vitro transcription analyses indicated that the presence of ComK is sufficient to alleviate LexA repression ofrecA.
Author(s): Hamoen LW, Haijema B, Bijlsma JJ, Venema G, Lovett CM
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: The Journal of Biological Chemistry
Year: 2001
Volume: 276
Issue: 46
Pages: 42901-42907
ISSN (print): 0021-9258
Publisher: American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M104407200
DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M104407200
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric