Open AccessThe iron dependent regulatory protein IdeR (DtxR) of Rhodococcus equi
Author(s) -
Boland Clara A.,
Meijer Wim G.
Publication year - 2000
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 - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2000.tb09310.x
Subject(s) - biology , open reading frame , gene , escherichia coli , gene cluster , microbiology and biotechnology , amino acid , biochemistry , peptide sequence
This paper reports the presence of an ideR gene, which encodes an iron‐dependent regulatory protein, in Rhodococcus erythropolis and in the intracellular pathogen Rhodococcus equi . The ideR gene of the latter encoded a protein of 230 amino acids with a molecular mass of 25 619. The α‐helices forming the helix‐turn‐helix motif of the R. equi protein were identical to those of the DtxR protein of Corynebacterium diphtheriae , which is an IdeR homologue. This indicates that the two proteins bind to the same DNA binding site. This was confirmed following expression of IdeR in Escherichia coli , which showed that the IdeR protein could repress transcription of the tox promoter of C. diphtheriae in an iron dependent manner. An open reading frame specifying a 283‐amino acid polypeptide similar to galE encoding UDP‐galactose 4‐epimerase was present downstream of the ideR gene.