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PMID: 18812398 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

S-box and T-box riboswitches and antisense RNA control a sulfur metabolic operon of Clostridium acetobutylicum.

Nucleic acids research ·Vol. 36 ·No. 18 ·2008-10-00 ·Pages 5955-69

André G, Even S, Putzer H, Burguière P, Croux C, Danchin A, Martin-Verstraete I, Soutourina O

Abstract

The ubiGmccBA operon of Clostridium acetobutylicum is involved in methionine to cysteine conversion. We showed that its expression is controlled by a complex regulatory system combining several RNA-based mechanisms. Two functional convergent promoters associated with transcriptional antitermination systems, a cysteine-specific T-box and an S-box riboswitch, are located upstream of and downstream from the ubiG operon, respectively. Several antisense RNAs were synthesized from the downstream S-box-dependent promoter, resulting in modulation of the level of ubiG transcript and of MccB activity. In contrast, the upstream T-box system did not appear to play a major role in regulation, leaving antisense transcription as the major regulatory mechanism for the ubiG operon. The abundance of sense and antisense transcripts was inversely correlated with the sulfur source availability. Deletion of the downstream promoter region completely abolished the sulfur-dependent control of the ubiG operon, and the expression of antisense transcripts in trans did not restore the regulation of the operon. Our data revealed important insights into the molecular mechanism of cis-antisense-mediated regulation, a control system only rarely observed in prokaryotes. We proposed a regulatory model in which the antisense RNA controlled the expression of the ubiG operon in cis via transcriptional interference at the ubiG locus.

MeSH Terms
Bacillus subtilis/genetics Base Sequence Clostridium acetobutylicum/enzymology,genetics Cystathionine beta-Synthase/biosynthesis,genetics Cystathionine gamma-Lyase/biosynthesis,genetics Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial Genetic Complementation Test Molecular Sequence Data Operon Promoter Regions, Genetic RNA, Antisense/analysis,chemistry,metabolism RNA, Messenger/metabolism Regulatory Sequences, Ribonucleic Acid Sulfur/metabolism
Chemicals
RNA, Antisense RNA, Messenger Regulatory Sequences, Ribonucleic Acid Sulfur Cystathionine beta-Synthase Cystathionine gamma-Lyase
Authors & Affiliations
8 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
André Gaëlle
Genetics of Bacterial Genomes, Pasteur Institute, CNRS URA2171, 25 rue du Dr Roux, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France.
Even Sergine
Putzer Harald
Burguière Pierre
Croux Christian
Danchin Antoine
Martin-Verstraete Isabelle
Soutourina Olga
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Article Info
Journal
Nucleic acids research
Abbr.
Nucleic Acids Res
ISSN
1362-4962
DOI
10.1093/nar/gkn601
Published
2008-10-00
Epub
2008-00-23
Pages
5955-69
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
0411011
PMCID
PMC2566862
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkn601 PMC Full Text View journal details
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