Academic literature on the topic 'ECF σ factors'

ABSTRACTExtracytoplasmicfunction (ECF) σ factors are the largest and the most diverse group of alternative σ factors, but their mechanisms of transcription are poorly studied. This subfamily is considered to exhibit a rigid promoter structure and an absence of mixing and matching; both −35 and −10 elements are considered necessary for initiating transcription. This paradigm, however, is based on very limited data, which bias the analysis of diverse ECF σ subgroups. Here we investigate DNA and protein recognition motifs involved in ECF σ factor transcription by a computational analysis of canonical ECF subfamily members, much less studied ECF σ subgroups, and the group outliers, obtained from recently sequenced bacteriophages. The analysis identifies an extended −10 element in promoters for phage ECF σ factors; a comparison with bacterial σ factors points to a putative 6-amino-acid motif just C-terminal of domain σ2, which is responsible for the interaction with the identified extension of the −10 element. Interestingly, a similar protein motif is found C-terminal of domain σ2in canonical ECF σ factors, at a position where it is expected to interact with a conserved motif further upstream of the −10 element. Moreover, the phiEco32 ECF σ factor lacks a recognizable −35 element and σ4domain, which we identify in a homologous phage, 7-11, indicating that the extended −10 element can compensate for the lack of −35 element interactions. Overall, the results reveal greater flexibility in promoter recognition by ECF σ factors than previously recognized and raise the possibility that mixing and matching also apply to this group, a notion that remains to be biochemically tested.IMPORTANCEECF σ factors are the most numerous group of alternative σ factors but have been little studied. Their promoter recognition mechanisms are obscured by the large diversity within the ECF σ factor group and the limited similarity with the well-studied housekeeping σ factors. Here we extensively compare bacterial and bacteriophage ECF σ factors and their promoters in order to infer DNA and protein recognition motifs involved in transcription initiation. We predict a more flexible promoter structure than is recognized by the current paradigm, which assumes rigidness, and propose that ECF σ promoter elements may complement (mix and match with) each other's strengths. These results warrant the refocusing of research efforts from the well-studied housekeeping σ factors toward the physiologically highly important, but insufficiently understood, alternative σ factors.

Abstract Bacterial RNA polymerase (RNAP) forms distinct holoenzymes with extra-cytoplasmic function (ECF) σ factors to initiate specific gene expression programs. In this study, we report a cryo-EM structure at 4.0 Å of Escherichia coli transcription initiation complex comprising σE—the most-studied bacterial ECF σ factor (Ec σE-RPo), and a crystal structure at 3.1 Å of Mycobacterium tuberculosis transcription initiation complex with a chimeric σH/E (Mtb σH/E-RPo). The structure of Ec σE-RPo reveals key interactions essential for assembly of E. coli σE-RNAP holoenzyme and for promoter recognition and unwinding by E. coli σE. Moreover, both structures show that the non-conserved linkers (σ2/σ4 linker) of the two ECF σ factors are inserted into the active-center cleft and exit through the RNA-exit channel. We performed secondary-structure prediction of 27,670 ECF σ factors and find that their non-conserved linkers probably reach into and exit from RNAP active-center cleft in a similar manner. Further biochemical results suggest that such σ2/σ4 linker plays an important role in RPo formation, abortive production and promoter escape during ECF σ factors-mediated transcription initiation.

σ factors are transcriptional regulatory proteins that bind to the RNA polymerase and dictate gene expression. The extracytoplasmic function (ECF) σ factors govern the environment dependent regulation of transcription. ECF σ factors have two domains σ2 and σ4 that recognize the -10 and -35 promoter elements. However, unlike the primary σ factor σA, the ECF σ factors lack σ3, a region that helps in the recognition of the extended -10 element and σ1.1, a domain involved in the autoinhibition of σA in the absence of core RNA polymerase. Mycobacterium tuberculosis σC is an ECF σ factor that is essential for the pathogenesis and virulence of M. tuberculosis in the mouse and guinea pig models of infection. However, unlike other ECF σ factors, σC does not appear to have a regulatory anti-σ factor located in the same operon. We also note that M. tuberculosis σC differs from the canonical ECF σ factors as it has an N-terminal domain comprising of 126 amino acids that precedes the σC2 and σC4 domains. In an effort to understand the regulatory mechanism of this protein, the crystal structures of the σC2 and σC4 domains of σC were determined. These promoter recognition domains are structurally similar to the corresponding domains of σA despite the low sequence similarity. Fluorescence experiments using the intrinsic tryptophan residues of σC2 as well as surface plasmon resonance measurements reveal that the σC2 and σC4 domains interact with each other. Mutational analysis suggests that the Pribnow box-binding region of σC2 is involved in this interdomain interaction. Interaction between the promoter recognition domains in M. tuberculosis σC are thus likely to regulate the activity of this protein even in the absence of an anti-σ factor.

ABSTRACTClostridium difficileis an anaerobic, Gram-positive, spore-forming, opportunistic pathogen that is the most common cause of hospital-acquired infectious diarrhea. In numerous pathogens, stress response mechanisms are required for survival within the host. Extracytoplasmic function (ECF) σ factors are a major family of signal transduction systems, which sense and respond to extracellular stresses. We have identified threeC. difficileECF σ factors. These ECF σ factors, CsfT, CsfU, and CsfV, induce their own expressions and are negatively regulated by their cognate anti-σ factors, RsiT, RsiU, and RsiV, respectively. The levels of expression of these ECF σ factors increase following exposure to the antimicrobial peptides bacitracin and/or lysozyme. The expressions of many ECF σ factors are controlled by site 1 and site 2 proteases, which cleave anti-σ factors. Using a retargeted group II intron, we generated aC. difficilemutation inprsW, a putative site 1 protease. TheC. difficile prsWmutant exhibited decreased levels of expression of CsfT and CsfU but not of CsfV. When expressed in a heterologous host,C. difficilePrsW was able to induce the degradation of RsiT but not of RsiU. When theprsWmutant was tested in competition assays against its isogenic parent in the hamster model ofC. difficileinfection, we found that theprsWmutant was 30-fold less virulent than the wild type. TheprsWmutant was also significantly more sensitive to bacitracin and lysozyme than the wild type inin vitrocompetition assays. Taken together, these data suggest that PrsW likely regulates the activation of the ECF σ factor CsfT inC. difficileand controls the resistance ofC. difficileto antimicrobial peptides that are important for survival in the host.

ABSTRACT Bacillus subtilis encodes seven extracytoplasmic function (ECF) σ factors. Three (σM, σW, and σX) mediate responses to cell envelope-active antibiotics. The functions of σV, σY, σZ, and σYlaC remain largely unknown, and strong inducers of these σ factors and their regulons have yet to be defined. Here, we define transcriptomic and phenotypic differences under nonstress conditions between a strain carrying deletions in all seven ECF σ factor genes (the Δ7ECF mutant), a ΔMWX triple mutant, and the parental 168 strain. Our results identify >80 genes as at least partially dependent on ECF σ factors, and as expected, most of these are dependent on σM, σW, or σX, which are active at a significant basal level during growth. Several genes, including the eps operon encoding enzymes for exopolysaccharide (EPS) production, were decreased in expression in the Δ7ECF mutant but affected less in the ΔMWX mutant. Consistent with this observation, the Δ7ECF mutant (but not the ΔMWX mutant) showed reduced biofilm formation. Extending previous observations, we also note that the ΔMWX mutant is sensitive to a variety of antibiotics and the Δ7ECF mutant is either as sensitive as, or slightly more sensitive than, the ΔMWX strain to these stressors. These findings emphasize the overlapping nature of the seven ECF σ factor regulons in B. subtilis, confirm that three of these (σM, σW, and σX) play the dominant role in conferring intrinsic resistance to antibiotics, and provide initial insights into the roles of the remaining ECF σ factors.

Bacteria encounter numerous environmental stresses which can delay or inhibit their growth. Many bacteria utilize alternative σ factors to regulate subsets of genes required to overcome different extracellular assaults. The largest group of these alternative σ factors are the extracytoplasmic function (ECF) σ factors. In this paper, we demonstrate that the expression of the ECF σ factor σVinBacillus subtilisis induced specifically by lysozyme but not other cell wall-damaging agents. A mutation insigVresults in increased sensitivity to lysozyme killing, suggesting that σVis required for lysozyme resistance. Using reverse transcription (RT)-PCR, we show that the previously uncharacterized geneyrhL(here referred to asoatAforO-acetyltransferase) is in a four-gene operon which includessigVandrsiV. In quantitative RT-PCR experiments, the expression ofoatAis induced by lysozyme stress. Lysozyme induction ofoatAis dependent upon σV. Overexpression ofoatAin asigVmutant restores lysozyme resistance to wild-type levels. This suggests that OatA is required for σV-dependent resistance to lysozyme. We also tested the ability of lysozyme to induce the other ECF σ factors and found that only the expression ofsigVis lysozyme inducible. However, we found that the other ECF σ factors contributed to lysozyme resistance. We found thatsigXandsigMmutations alone had very little effect on lysozyme resistance but when combined with asigVmutation resulted in significantly greater lysozyme sensitivity than thesigVmutation alone. This suggests thatsigV,sigX, andsigMmay act synergistically to control lysozyme resistance. In addition, we show that two ECF σ factor-regulated genes,dltAandpbpX, are required for lysozyme resistance. Thus, we have identified three independent mechanisms whichB. subtilisutilizes to avoid killing by lysozyme.

ABSTRACT Bacillus subtilis harbors seven extracytoplasmic function (ECF) σ factors. At least three ECF σ factors (σM, σW, and σX) are induced by, and provide resistance to, antibiotics and other agents eliciting cell envelope stress. Here, we report that ECF σ factors also contribute to antibiotic production. B. subtilis 168 strains that are lysogenic for the SPβ bacteriophage produce sublancin, which inhibits the growth of other, nonlysogenic strains. Genetic studies demonstrate that synthesis of sublancin is largely dependent on σX, with a smaller contribution from σM. A sigM sigX double mutant is unable to produce sublancin. This defect is primarily due to the fact that the sublancin biosynthesis is positively activated by the transition state regulator and AbrB paralog Abh, which counteracts transcriptional repression of the sublancin biosynthesis operon by AbrB. Ectopic expression of abh bypasses the requirement for σM or σX in sublancin synthesis, as does an abrB mutation. In addition to their major role in regulating sublancin expression by activating abh transcription, σX and σM also have a second role as positive regulators of sublancin expression that is independent of AbrB and Abh. Since sublancin resistance in nonlysogens is largely dependent on σW, ECF σ factors control both sublancin production and resistance.

ABSTRACT The envelope is an essential structure of the bacterial cell, and maintaining its integrity is a prerequisite for survival. To ensure proper function, transmembrane signal-transducing systems, such as two-component systems (TCS) and extracytoplasmic function (ECF) σ factors, closely monitor its condition and respond to harmful perturbations. Both systems consist of a transmembrane sensor protein (histidine kinase or anti-σ factor, respectively) and a corresponding cytoplasmic transcriptional regulator (response regulator or σ factor, respectively) that mediates the cellular response through differential gene expression. The regulatory network of the cell envelope stress response is well studied in the gram-positive model organism Bacillus subtilis. It consists of at least two ECF σ factors and four two-component systems. In this study, we describe the corresponding network in a close relative, Bacillus licheniformis. Based on sequence homology, domain architecture, and genomic context, we identified five TCS and eight ECF σ factors as potential candidate regulatory systems mediating cell envelope stress response in this organism. We characterized the corresponding regulatory network by comparative transcriptomics and regulon mining as an initial screening tool. Subsequent in-depth transcriptional profiling was applied to define the inducer specificity of each identified cell envelope stress sensor. A total of three TCS and seven ECF σ factors were shown to be induced by cell envelope stress in B. licheniformis. We noted a number of significant differences, indicative of a regulatory divergence between the two Bacillus species, in addition to the expected overlap in the respective responses.

ABSTRACT Bacillus subtilis encodes seven extracytoplasmic function (ECF) σ factors that regulate partially overlapping regulons related to cell envelope homeostasis and antibiotic resistance. Here, we investigated their physiological role by constructing a mutant set of single, double, triple, and quadruple ECF σ factor deletions in the undomesticated B. subtilis strain NCIB3610. This mutant set was subsequently screened for defects in motility, multicellular differentiation, and sensitivity to more than 200 chemicals by using Phenotype MicroArrays. A quadruple mutant strain, harboring deletions of the sigV, sigY, sigZ, and ylaC gene, behaved indistinguishably from the wild-type strain, indicative of either regulatory redundancy or very specific functions of these four ECF σ factors. In contrast, a triple mutant, inactivated for the sigM, sigW, and sigX genes (but none of the corresponding double mutants), showed a biphasic growth behavior and a complete loss of multicellular differentiation, as judged by both colony formation and the inability to form a pellicle. This triple mutant also displayed a greatly increased sensitivity to detergents and several cell wall antibiotics including β-lactams, polymyxin B, and d-cycloserine. In several cases, these antibiotic-sensitive phenotypes are significantly enhanced in the triple mutant strain relative to strains lacking only one or two σ factors.

The ability of bacterial core RNA polymerase (RNAP) to interact with different σ factors, thereby forming a variety of holoenzymes with different specificities, represents a powerful tool to coordinately reprogram gene expression. Extracytoplasmic function σ factors (ECFs), which are the largest and most diverse family of alternative σ factors, frequently participate in stress responses. The classification of ECFs in 157 different groups according to their phylogenetic relationships and genomic context has revealed their diversity. Here, we have clustered 55 ECF groups with experimentally studied representatives into two broad classes of stress responses. The remaining 102 groups still lack any mechanistic or functional insight, representing a myriad of systems yet to explore. In this work, we review the main features of ECFs and discuss the different mechanisms controlling their production and activity, and how they lead to a functional stress response. Finally, we focus in more detail on two well-characterized ECFs, for which the mechanisms to detect and respond to stress are complex and completely different: Escherichia coli RpoE, which is the best characterized ECF and whose structural and functional studies have provided key insights into the transcription initiation by ECF-RNAP holoenzymes, and the ECF15-type EcfG, the master regulator of the general stress response in Alphaproteobacteria.