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MlcR, a zinc cluster activator protein, is able to bind to a single (A/T)CGG site of cognate asymmetric motifs in the ML-236B (compactin) biosynthetic gene cluster

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Abstract

All of the binding sequences for MlcR, a transcriptional activator of ML-236B (compactin) biosynthetic genes in Penicillium citrinum, were identified by an in vitro gel-shift assay. All the identified sequences contain an asymmetric direct repeat comprised of conserved tetrad bases (A/T)CGG with a spacer sequence of high similarity; in particular, G at position 2 and T at position 3 in the spacer are well conserved. The first (A/T)CGG repeat was essential for MlcR-binding and MlcR could bind to this monomeric site, probably as a monomer. This binding feature might enable MlcR to tolerate the variation of the spacer length and compositions in vitro. From these data, we propose that the consensus binding motif for MlcR is an asymmetric direct repeat, 5′-(A/T)CGG-NGTN3–6-TCGG-3′.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank Dr. A. Miyadera, Dr. M. Takahashi and Dr. Y. Abe for their encouragement and suggestions. We would also like to thank Dr. F. Matsuda and Ms. K. Ono for their technical advice and support in the gel-shift assay.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Center for Biotechnology, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, 565-0871, Japan

    Satoshi Baba, Hiroshi Kinoshita & Takuya Nihira

  2. Process Technology Research Laboratories, Daiichi Sankyo Co., Ltd, 389-4 Aza-Ohtsurugi, Shimokawa, Izumi-machi, Iwaki, Fukushima, 971-8183, Japan

    Satoshi Baba & Masahiko Hosobuchi

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  1. Satoshi Baba
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  2. Hiroshi Kinoshita
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  3. Masahiko Hosobuchi
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  4. Takuya Nihira
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Correspondence to Satoshi Baba.

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Communicated by H. Ronne.

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Baba, S., Kinoshita, H., Hosobuchi, M. et al. MlcR, a zinc cluster activator protein, is able to bind to a single (A/T)CGG site of cognate asymmetric motifs in the ML-236B (compactin) biosynthetic gene cluster. Mol Genet Genomics 281, 627–634 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00438-009-0435-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00438-009-0435-9

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