Two membrane-bound transcription factors regulate expression of various type-IV-pili surface structures in Sulfolobus acidocaldarius

In Archaea and Bacteria, gene expression is tightly regulated in response to environmental stimuli. In the thermoacidophilic crenarchaeon Sulfolobus acidocaldariu s nutrient limitation induces expression of the archaellum, the archaeal motility structure. This expression is orchestrated by a complex hierarchical network of positive and negative regulators—the archaellum regulatory network (arn). The membrane-bound one-component system ArnR and its paralog ArnR1 were recently described as main activators of archaellum expression in S. acidocaldarius . They regulate gene expression of the archaellum operon by targeting the promoter of flaB , encoding the archaellum filament protein. Here we describe a strategy for the isolation and biochemical characterization of these two archaellum regulators. Both regulators are capable of forming oligomers and are phosphorylated by the Ser/Thr kinase ArnC. Apart from binding to pflaB , ArnR but not ArnR1 bound to promoter sequences of aapF and upsX , which encode components of the archaeal adhesive pilus and UV-inducible pili system, demonstrating a regulatory connection between different surface appendages of S. acidocaldarius .