Regulation of the Escherichia coli sheA gene and characterization of its encoded hemolytic activity

• Published in: FEMS microbiology letters Vol. 168; no. 1; pp. 85 - 90
• Main Authors: Fernández, Sandra V, Xing, Jun, Kapur, Vivek, Libby, Stephen J, Barletta, Raúl G, Moxley, Rodney A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.11.1998; Blackwell; Oxford University Press
• Subjects: Animals; Bacteriology; Base Sequence; Biological and medical sciences; Blotting, Northern; Calcium; Calcium - metabolism; Calcium ions; Cloning, Molecular; E coli; Escherichia coli; Escherichia coli - genetics; Escherichia coli - metabolism; Escherichia coli Infections - veterinary; Escherichia coli Proteins; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene expression; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; Genes; Genes, Bacterial; Genetics; Hemolysin; Hemolysin Proteins - genetics; Hemolysin Proteins - metabolism; Hemolysis; Microbiology; Molecular Sequence Data; Nucleotides; Promoter Regions, Genetic; Regulators; RNA, Bacterial - analysis; Sequence Analysis, DNA; SheA; SheA gene; SlyA; Swine; Transcription; Transcription, Genetic; Hemolysin; SheA; SlyA; Toxin; Regulation(control); Escherichia coli; Bacteria; Gene expression; Enterobacteriaceae
• ISSN: 0378-1097; 1574-6968
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1574-6968.1998.tb13259.x

Abstract Escherichia coli K-12 carries the cryptic hemolysin gene sheA which is under the control of positive and negative transcriptional regulators. The objectives of the present study were to further analyze the regulation of the sheA gene in E. coli, to compare the sheA genes from E. coli K-12 and a pathogenic E. coli strain, and to characterize the SheA hemolytic activity. Northern blot analysis demonstrated that the transcriptional regulator SlyA activates the E. coli K-12 sheA gene. The main transcriptional start site of the sheA gene was 56 nucleotides upstream from the start codon as determined by primer extension analysis. The sheA genes from E. coli K-12 and a pathogenic E. coli strain were identical. SheA hemolytic activity was cell associated and Ca2+ independent.