In vivo transcription of bacteriophage phi 29 DNA early and late promoter sequences

DNA bending and looping in the transcriptional control of bacteriophage phi29

Recent studies on the regulation of phage phi29 gene expression reveal new ways to accomplish the processes required for the orderly gene expression in prokaryotic systems. These studies revealed a novel DNA-binding domain in the phage main transcriptional regulator and the nature and dynamics of the multimeric DNA-protein complex responsible for the switch from early to late gene expression. This review describes the features of the regulatory mechanism that leads to the simultaneous activation and repression of transcription, and discusses it in the context of the role of the topological modification of the DNA carried out by two phage-encoded proteins working synergistically with the DNA.

Streptomyces lividans contains a minimal functional signal recognition particle that is involved in protein secretion

The bacterial version of the mammalian signal recognition particle (SRP) is well conserved and essential to all known bacteria. The genes for the Streptomyces lividans SRP components have been cloned and characterized. FtsY resembles the mammalian SRP receptor and the S. lividans SRP consists of Ffh, a homologue of the mammalian SRP54 protein, and scRNA, which is a small size RNA of 82 nt in length. Co-immunoprecipitation studies confirmed that Ffh and scRNA are probably the only components of the S. lividans SRP and that pre-agarase can co-immunoprecipitate with Ffh, suggesting that the SRP is involved in targeting secretory proteins.

Phi29 family of phages

Continuous research spanning more than three decades has made the Bacillus bacteriophage phi29 a paradigm for several molecular mechanisms of general biological processes, such as DNA replication, regulation of transcription, phage morphogenesis, and phage DNA packaging. The genome of bacteriophage phi29 consists of a linear double-stranded DNA (dsDNA), which has a terminal protein (TP) covalently linked to its 5' ends. Initiation of DNA replication, carried out by a protein-primed mechanism, has been studied in detail and is considered to be a model system for the protein-primed DNA replication that is also used by most other linear genomes with a TP linked to their DNA ends, such as other phages, linear plasmids, and adenoviruses. In addition to a continuing progress in unraveling the initiation of DNA replication mechanism and the role of various proteins involved in this process, major advances have been made during the last few years, especially in our understanding of transcription regulation, the head-tail connector protein, and DNA packaging. Recent progress in all these topics is reviewed. In addition to phi29, the genomes of several other Bacillus phages consist of a linear dsDNA with a TP molecule attached to their 5' ends. These phi29-like phages can be divided into three groups. The first group includes, in addition to phi29, phages PZA, phi15, and BS32. The second group comprises B103, Nf, and M2Y, and the third group contains GA-1 as its sole member. Whereas the DNA sequences of the complete genomes of phi29 (group I) and B103 (group II) are known, only parts of the genome of GA-1 (group III) were sequenced. We have determined the complete DNA sequence of the GA-1 genome, which allowed analysis of differences and homologies between the three groups of phi29-like phages, which is included in this review.

The Bacillus subtilis 168 csn gene encodes a chitosanase with similar properties to a streptomyces enzyme

The Bacillus subtilis 168 csn gene encodes a chitosanase. It was found that transcription of the csn gene was temporally regulated and was not subject to metabolic repression. Chitosanase synthesis was abolished in a csn mutant strain. Csn was overproduced in B. subtilis, partially purified and characterized. The deduced amino acid sequence, K(m), and optimal pH and temperature of the B. subtilis enzyme were closer to those of a chitosanase from Streptomyces sp. N174 than to those of chitosanases from other Bacillus strains.

Bacteriophage B103: complete DNA sequence of its genome and relationship to other Bacillus phages

The genome of Bacillus subtilis bacteriophage B103 consists of double-stranded linear DNA 18,630 bp long. The DNA was sequenced, and the sequence was compared with DNA sequences of closely related phages, namely the members of the phage phi29 family. Among them, phage Nf was shown to be the most closely related to B103. Comparisons of several open reading frames (ORFs) among the family members helped to identify genes 1 and 5. A cluster of ORFs between genes 16 and 17 contains two ORFs with partial homology with two phi29 ORFs located in the same region. There are three more ORFs in this region of B103 with good ribosome binding sites (RBS) and optimal codon usage that are not homologous to any of the phi29 ORFs. The function of these five ORFs remains unexplained. It was shown that major promoters characterized in phi29 are retained in B103. Where many substitutions occur in the vicinity of a promoter, at least the -10 and -35 boxes are conserved.

In vitro and in vivo transcription from a computer predicted promoter

A fragment (172 bp) of B. subtilis phage phi29 DNA, which does not contain a functional promoter for phage transcription, has been shown to direct transcription in the promoter-probe plasmid pPV33. The promoter candidate found in this fragment by the computer method of acceptability is compared with cryptic promoters selected by this computer method. It is characterized in vitro by electron microscopic visualization of RNA polymerase binding and 'run off' transcription, and in vivo by high resolution S1 mapping.

Bacteriophage Nf DNA region controlling late transcription: structural and functional homology with bacteriophage phi 29

The putative region for the control of late transcription of the Bacillus subtilis phage Nf has been identified by DNA sequence homology with the equivalent region of the evolutionary related phage phi 29. A similar arrangement of early and late promoters has been detected in the two phages, suggesting that viral transcription could be regulated in a similar way at late times of the infection. Transcription of late genes requires the presence of a viral early protein, gpF in phage Nf and p4 in phage phi 29, being the latter known to bind to a DNA region located upstream from the phage phi 29 late promoter. We have identified a DNA region located upstream from the putative late promoter of phage Nf that is probably involved in binding protein gpF. Furthermore, we show that the phage phi 29 protein p4 is able to bind to this region and activate transcription from the phage Nf putative late promoter. Sequence alignment has also revealed the existence of significant internal homology between the two early promoters contained in this region of each phage.

The main early and late promoters of Bacillus subtilis phage phi 29 form unstable open complexes with sigma A-RNA polymerase that are stabilized by DNA supercoiling

Most Escherichia coli promoters studied so far form stable open complexes with sigma 70-RNA polymerase which have relatively long half-lives and, therefore, are resistant to a competitor challenge. A few exceptions are nevertheless known. The analysis of a number of promoters in Bacillus subtilis has suggested that the instability of open complexes formed by the vegetative sigma A-RNA polymerase may be a more general phenomenon than in Escherichia coli. We show that the main early and late promoters from the Bacillus subtilis phage phi 29 form unstable open complexes that are stabilized either by the formation of the first phosphodiester bond between the initiating nucleoside triphosphates or by DNA supercoiling. The functional characteristics of these two strong promoters suggest that they are not optimized for a tight and stable RNA polymerase binding. Their high activity is probably the consequence of the efficiency of further steps leading to the formation of an elongation complex.

Phage phi 29 regulatory protein p4 stabilizes the binding of the RNA polymerase to the late promoter in a process involving direct protein-protein contacts

Transcription from the late promoter, PA3, of Bacillus subtilis phage phi 29 is activated by the viral regulatory protein p4. A kinetic analysis of the activation process has revealed that the role of protein p4 is to stabilize the binding of RNA polymerase to the promoter as a closed complex without significantly affecting further steps of the initiation process. Electrophoretic band-shift assays performed with a DNA fragment spanning only the protein p4 binding site showed that RNA polymerase could efficiently retard the complex formed by protein p4 bound to the DNA. Similarly, when a DNA fragment containing only the RNA polymerase-binding region of PA3 was used, p4 greatly stimulated the binding of RNA polymerase to the DNA. These results strongly suggest that p4 and RNA polymerase contact each other at the PA3 promoter. In the light of current knowledge of the p4 activation mechanism, we propose that direct contacts between the two proteins participate in the activation process.

Molecular analysis of the Bacillus subtilis recF function

recF resides between the dnaN and gyrB genes of Bacillus subtilis. The recF15 mutation results in replacement of a glutamate residue in the wild type with a lysine residue in the mutant RecF protein. We investigated the in vivo regulation of recF using a transcriptional fusion to the xylE gene and assaying mRNA production. We found that novobiocin leads to a four-fold induction in recF gene expression, but this is not observed in a gyrB mutant strain. Enhancement of expression of the recF gene in the presence of novobiocin is unrelated to the SOS response. The RecF protein, which has a predicted molecular mass of 42.2 kDa, does not seem to be involved in its own regulation.

Transcription activation at a distance by phage phi 29 protein p4. Effect of bent and non-bent intervening DNA sequences

Protein p4 of the Bacillus subtilis phage phi 29 switches on the transcription of the viral late genes by binding to the viral late promoter at a region close to the RNA polymerase binding site. Gel retardation and DNase I footprinting assays show that the presence of protein p4 is required for RNA polymerase recognition of the late promoter. The protein p4 and RNA polymerase DNA binding sites have been separated by the insertion of bent and non-bent DNA sequences of different lengths. These mutant promoters were used to study in vitro their protein p4-dependent transcriptional activity and their interaction with both protein p4 and RNA polymerase. The results indicate that protein p4 is able to function at longer DNA distances from the RNA polymerase binding site than in the natural promoter. The extent of protein p4 activity depended on the length and conformation of the inserted DNA. Activation of transcription and RNA polymerase binding was favoured when the relative orientation of protein p4 and RNA polymerase was conserved and when the intervening DNA had a bent conformation. These data, together with the DNase I footprints, suggest that activation at distance by protein p4 involves a DNA loop held by the interaction of protein p4 and RNA polymerase.

Transcription of genes involved in the earliest steps of actinorhodin biosynthesis in Streptomyces coelicolor

A 170bp long BamHI-Sau3A DNA fragment from the actIII-actI intergenic region of the actinorhodin (Act) biosynthetic gene cluster of Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) contains two promoters directing transcription in a divergent manner. One of them, the actIII promoter, is responsible for the transcription of the actIII gene and the other controls transcription of the adjacent actI region in the opposite direction. Weak activity of the actIII promoter can be detected in Streptomyces lividans and Bacillus subtilis in the absence but not in the presence of glucose. Neither promoter seems to function in Escherichia coli.

Isolation of DNA-dependent RNA polymerase from Streptomyces granaticolor and its binding to phage phi 29 DNA

Partially purified DNA-dependent RNA polymerase of Streptomyces granaticolor was further separated on phosphocellulose in 50% glycerol and a single activity peak was obtained. The enzyme isolated in this way consisted of 4 main proteins with molar mass of 145, 132, 50 and 46 kg/mol. These four subunits represented 93% proteins of the active fraction. To test the ability of RNA polymerase to recognize specific sites on DNA, binding sites for RNA polymerase on phage phi 29 DNA were mapped by electron microscopy. The specific binding sites detected were compared with those for RNA polymerases from Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis.

Short N-terminal deletions in the phage phi 29 transcriptional activator protein impair its DNA-binding ability

The expression of Bacillus subtilis phage phi 29 late genes from the A3 promoter requires the viral protein p4. This protein is a transcriptional activator which binds to a region of the A3 promoter located between nucleotides -56 to -102, relative to the transcription start point. Mutants at the N terminus of protein p4 have been constructed and their function investigated. The binding of these deletion mutants to the late A3 promoter has been analyzed by gel retardation and DNase I footprinting assays. The results indicate that the N terminus of protein p4 could be involved in its binding to the A3 promoter, suggesting that it may not be a typical Cro-like helix-turn-helix DNA-binding protein.

Bend induced by the phage phi 29 transcriptional activator in the viral late promoter is required for activation

Transcription initiation from the Bacillus subtilis phage phi 29 late A3 promoter requires the viral protein p4, a transcriptional activator. Protein p4 binds to a region of the A3 promoter, located between nucleotides -50 and -100 relative to the transcription start site, that presents a sequence-directed curvature. This curvature is enhanced when protein p4 binds to the promoter. A number of deletion mutants at the carboxyl end of protein p4 have been constructed and their behavior as transcriptional activators of the late A3 promoter has been investigated. The binding of these deletion mutants to the late A3 promoter has been analyzed by gel retardation, DNase I footprinting, methylation interference and circular permutation assays. The results suggest that the last 12 amino acid residues of protein p4, six of which are positively charged, although not involved in the specific recognition of the promoter are responsible for part of the bend induced by protein p4 in its binding site. Evidence is presented which suggests that full induction of this curvature is needed for the transcription activation process. A model is proposed for protein p4 interaction with the A3 promoter, in which the bend is induced in two steps: first, two monomers of protein p4 bind to the inverted recognition sequences, subsequent interaction between them generating a bend between these sequences; second, the highly basic carboxyl terminus of protein p4 establishes non-specific electrostatic interactions with the DNA backbone inducing a bend at both ends of the protein p4 binding region.

Characterization of a new prokaryotic transcriptional activator and its DNA recognition site

The expression of the Bacillus subtilis phage phi 29 DNA is controlled by the viral gene 4 product, which is required for the initiation of transcription at the unique late promoter A3. Protein p4 binds specifically to a phi 29 DNA fragment containing the A3 promoter. DNase I footprinting analysis has shown that the DNA binding region for protein p4 is located between nucleotides -50 and -100 relative to the transcription start site. Methylation interference assays suggest that two eight base-pair long inverted repeats located within this binding region are the protein p4 recognition sequence. These results, together with the fact that the protein p4-dependent in vitro transcription requires the B. subtilis sigma 43-RNA polymerase, indicate that protein p4 is a transcriptional activator. The protein p4 DNA recognition region is statically bent as suggested by gel retardation and chemical cleavage assays. A model of protein p4 binding to its DNA target site is proposed.

Bacteriophage Mu late promoters: four late transcripts initiate near a conserved sequence

Late transcription of bacteriophage Mu, which results in the expression of phage morphogenetic functions, is dependent on Mu C protein. Earlier experiments indicated that Mu late RNAs originate from four promoters, including the previously characterized mom promoter. S1 nuclease protection experiments were used to map RNA 5' ends in the three new regions. Transcripts were initiated at these points only in the presence of C and were synthesized in a rightward direction on the Mu genome. Amber mutant marker rescue analysis of plasmid clones and limited DNA sequencing demonstrated that these new promoters are located between C and lys, upstream of I, and upstream of P within the N gene. A comparison of the promoter sequences upstream from the four RNA 5' ends yielded two conserved sequences: the first (tA . . cT, where capital and lowercase letters indicate 100 and 75% base conservation, respectively), at approximately -10, shares some similarity with the consensus Escherichia coli sigma 70 -10 region, while the second (ccATAAc CcCPuG/Cac, where Pu indicates a purine), in the -35 region, bears no resemblance to the E. coli -35 consensus. We propose that these conserved Mu late promoter consensus sequences are important for C-dependent promoter activity. Plasmids containing transcription fusions of these late promoters to lacZ exhibited C-dependent beta-galactosidase synthesis in vivo, and C was the only Mu product needed for this transactivation. As expected, the late promoter-lacZ fusions were activated only at late times after induction of a Mu prophage. The C-dependent activation of lacZ fusions containing only a few bases of the 5' end of Mu late RNA and the presence of altered promoter sequences imply that C acts at the level of transcription initiation.

Purification in an active form of the phage phi 29 protein p4 that controls the viral late transcription

The phage phi 29 protein p4, that controls viral late transcription, was highly purified from Escherichia coli cells harbouring a gene 4-containing plasmid. This protein, representing about 6% of the total cellular protein, was obtained in a highly purified form. The protein was characterized as p4 by amino acid analysis and NH2-terminal sequence determination. The purified protein was active in an in vitro transcription assay, allowing specific initiation of transcription at the phi 29 A3 late promoter in the presence of Bacillus subtilis sigma 43-RNA polymerase holoenzyme.

Characterization of the small RNA of the bacteriophage phi 29 DNA packaging machine

The prohead connector of the bacteriophage luminal diameter 29 DNA packaging machine was reconstructed with the small RNA that regulates DNA packaging in vitro. The complete sequence of the 120 nucleotide RNA proved its origination from the promoter PE1(A1) of the left early region of phi 29 DNA, the end packaged first during assembly. The prohead RNA was clearly distinct from eubacterial 5S rRNA in sequence and composition.

In vivo transcription of bacteriophage phi 29 DNA: transcription termination

The main early and late transcription termination sites in vivo in bacteriophage phi 29 DNA were determined by nuclease S1 mapping. Transcription of the phi 29 early genes located at the left end of the viral genome terminated at the very end of the DNA molecule and within the HindIII G fragment of the viral DNA. Transcription termination of the early genes located at the right end of the genome and that of the late viral genes overlapped in a specific region of the phi 29 DNA within the EcoRI D fragment. Stem-loop structures followed by uridine-rich tails could be derived close to the 3' ends of early and late mRNAs, suggesting Rho-independent transcription termination in phi 29 DNA.

A Bacillus subtilis phage phi 29 transcription terminator is efficiently recognized in Streptomyces lividans

A DNA fragment from the Bacillus subtilis phage phi 29, containing the bidirectional transcription terminator TD1, where the right early transcription and late viral transcription terminate, has been inserted in one orientation between the aminoglycoside phosphotransferase (APH) gene (neo) and the phi 29 main early and late promoters present in derivative constructs of the Streptomyces promoter-probe plasmid pIJ486. The TD1 terminator is efficiently recognized in S. lividans and ends the transcription, started in vivo at the phi 29 promoters, at the same point as the B. subtilis RNA polymerase, resulting in a considerable reduction of the level of the APHII enzyme synthesized under the control of the phage promoters.

Nucleotide sequence of Bacillus phage phi 29 genes 14 and 15: homology of gene 15 with other phage lysozymes

The nucleotide sequence of Bacillus phage phi 29 genes 14 (g14) and 15 (g15) have been determined and shown to encode proteins with molecular weights of 15,014 and 28,022, respectively. The g14 open reading frame (ORF) was confirmed by sequencing a sus14(1241) mutant. Gene product 15 (gp15) has considerable homology with Salmonella phage P22 lysozyme and lesser homology with Escherichia coli phage T4 lysozyme. Putative translation signals are identified. In addition, the role of a previously described promoter, B2, is discussed.

Bacillus subtilis phage phi 29 main promoters are efficiently recognized in vivo by the Streptomyces lividans RNA polymerase

A DNA fragment from the Bacillus subtilis phage phi 29, containing the main early and late viral promoters, has been inserted upstream of the aminoglycoside phosphotransferase gene (neo) derived from the transposon Tn5 and present in a Streptomyces lividans promoter-probe plasmid. The phi 29 promoters are specifically recognized by the S. lividans RNA polymerase which initiates transcription in vivo at the same sites utilized in B. subtilis. Moreover, the viral promoters efficiently direct the synthesis of high levels of the APHII enzyme in S. lividans.