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Mutational analysis of genes encoding chromatin proteins in the archaeon Methanococcus voltae indicates their involvement in the regulation of gene expression

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Abstract

Several genes for chromatin proteins are known in Archaea. These include histones and histone-like proteins in Euryarchaeota, and a DNA binding protein, Alba, which was first detected in the crenarchaeote Sulfolobus solfataricus and is thought to be involved in transcriptional regulation. The methanogenic archaeon Methanococcus voltae harbors four genes coding for all these three types of chromatin proteins. Deletion mutants for the two histone genes (hstA and hstB), the gene encoding the histone-like protein (hmvA) and the gene for the Alba homologue (albA) have now been constructed in this organism. Although all single mutants were viable, deletion of hstA resulted in slow growth. Two transcripts were detected for each of the two histone genes. These were expressed in different relative amounts, which were correlated with different growth phases. Cell extracts obtained from the different mutants exhibited altered protein patterns, as revealed by 2D gel electrophoresis, indicating that the chromatin proteins are involved in gene regulation in M. voltae.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. M. Krüer and J. Kahnt for their assistance with the mass determination, and Drs. E. Lyon and M. Bölker for critical reading of the manuscript. We are grateful to Integrated Genomics for granting access to unpublished genomic sequence data. This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and Fonds der Chemischen Industrie

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  1. Fachbereich Biologie-Genetik, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Karl-v.-Frisch-Str 8, 35043, Marburg, Germany

    I. Heinicke, J. Müller, M. Pittelkow & A. Klein

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  1. I. Heinicke
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Correspondence to I. Heinicke.

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Communicated by W. Hörz

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Heinicke, I., Müller, J., Pittelkow, M. et al. Mutational analysis of genes encoding chromatin proteins in the archaeon Methanococcus voltae indicates their involvement in the regulation of gene expression. Mol Genet Genomics 272, 76–87 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00438-004-1033-5

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