Open AccessOptimization of a two‐plasmid system for the identification of promoters recognized by RNA polymerase containing Staphylococcus aureus alternative sigma factor σ B
Author(s) -
Homerova Dagmar,
Bischoff Markus,
Dumolin Alexis,
Kormanec Jan
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1016/s0378-1097(04)00063-1
Subject(s) - sigma factor , promoter , rna polymerase , biology , bacillus subtilis , consensus sequence , gene , plasmid , genetics , transcription (linguistics) , microbiology and biotechnology , gene expression , rna , peptide sequence , linguistics , philosophy , bacteria
We optimized a previously established two‐plasmid system for the identification of Staphylococcus aureus promoters that are recognized by the alternative transcription factor σ B . The method allowed the identification of 18 S. aureus σ B ‐dependent promoters, 12 of which are reported here for the first time to be σ B ‐dependent. S1‐nuclease mapping of the respective transcriptional start points revealed that all the promoters contained sequences exhibiting high similarity to the consensus sequence of Bacillus subtilis σ B ‐dependent promoters. The promoters governed expression of genes encoding proteins proposed to be involved in various cellular functions, including the stress response genes and virulence‐associated clfA gene for fibrinogen‐binding clumping factor. Comparison of the nucleotide sequences upstream of the identified transcription start points identified a σ B consensus promoter (GttTaa‐N 12–15 ‐gGGTAt) that is highly homologous to that of σ B of B. subtilis .