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RegB/RegA, A Global Redox-Responding Two-Component System

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Bacterial Signal Transduction: Networks and Drug Targets

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 631))

Abstract

The RegB-RegA regulon from Rhodobacter capsulatus and Rhodobacter sphaeroides encodes proteins involved in numerous energy-generating and energy-utilizing processes such as photosynthesis, carbon fixation, nitrogen fixation, hydrogen utilization, aerobic and anaerobic respiration, denitrification, electron transport and aerotaxis. The redox signal that is detected by the membrane-bound sensor kinase, RegB, has been identified to be the ubiquinone pool in the membrane. Regulation of RegB autophosphorylation also involves a redox-active cysteine that is present in the cytosolic region of RegB. Both phosphorylated and unphosphorylated forms of the cognate response regulator RegA are capable of activating or repressing a variety of genes in the regulon. Highly conserved homologues of RegB and RegA have been found in a wide number of photosynthetic and nonphotosynthetic bacteria with evidence suggesting that RegB/RegA have a fundamental role in the transcription of redox-regulated genes in many bacterial species.

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  1. Department of Biology, Indiana University, Myers Hall, 915 E. Third St., Bloomington, IN, 47405-7170, USA

    Jiang Wu & Carl E. Bauer

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Correspondence to Carl E. Bauer .

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  1. Department of Bioscience, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kinki University, Nakamachi, Nara, Japan

    Ryutaro Utsumi PhD

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Wu, J., Bauer, C.E. (2008). RegB/RegA, A Global Redox-Responding Two-Component System. In: Utsumi, R. (eds) Bacterial Signal Transduction: Networks and Drug Targets. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 631. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-78885-2_9

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