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The Vibrio cholerae virulence regulatory cascade controls glucose uptake through activation of TarA, a small regulatory RNA.
- Source :
-
Molecular microbiology [Mol Microbiol] 2010 Dec; Vol. 78 (5), pp. 1171-81. Date of Electronic Publication: 2010 Sep 30. - Publication Year :
- 2010
-
Abstract
- Vibrio cholerae causes the severe diarrhoeal disease cholera. A cascade of regulators controls expression of virulence determinants in V. cholerae at both transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. ToxT is the direct transcription activator of the major virulence genes in V. cholerae. Here we describe TarA, a highly conserved, small regulatory RNA, whose transcription is activated by ToxT from toxboxes present upstream of the ToxT-activated gene tcpI. TarA regulates ptsG, encoding a major glucose transporter in V. cholerae. Cells overexpressing TarA exhibit decreased steady-state levels of ptsG mRNA and grow poorly in glucose-minimal media. A mutant lacking the ubiquitous regulatory protein Hfq expresses diminished TarA levels, indicating that TarA likely interacts with Hfq to regulate gene expression. RNAhybrid analysis of TarA and the putative ptsG mRNA leader suggests potential productive base-pairing between these two RNA molecules. A V. cholerae mutant lacking TarA is compromised for infant mouse colonization in competition with wild type, suggesting a role in the in vivo fitness of V. cholerae. Although somewhat functionally analogous to SgrS of Escherichia coli, TarA does not encode a regulatory peptide, and its expression is activated by the virulence gene pathway in V. cholerae and not by glycolytic intermediates.<br /> (© 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.)
- Subjects :
- Animals
Bacterial Proteins genetics
Bacterial Proteins metabolism
Base Sequence
Biological Transport
Humans
Mice
Molecular Sequence Data
Nucleic Acid Conformation
RNA, Bacterial chemistry
RNA, Bacterial metabolism
RNA, Untranslated chemistry
RNA, Untranslated metabolism
Sequence Alignment
Transcription Factors genetics
Transcription Factors metabolism
Vibrio cholerae chemistry
Vibrio cholerae genetics
Virulence
Cholera microbiology
Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial
Glucose metabolism
RNA, Bacterial genetics
RNA, Untranslated genetics
Transcriptional Activation
Vibrio cholerae metabolism
Vibrio cholerae pathogenicity
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1365-2958
- Volume :
- 78
- Issue :
- 5
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Molecular microbiology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 21091503
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2958.2010.07397.x