Work

Vibrio fischeri DarR Directs Responses to d -Aspartate and Represents a Group of Similar LysR-Type Transcriptional Regulators

Year: 2018

Type: article

Abstract: d -Amino acids are prevalent in the environment and are generated by organisms from all domains of life. Although some biological roles for d -amino acids are understood, in other cases, their functions remain uncertain. Given the ubiquity of d -amino acids, it seems likely that bacteria will initiate transcriptional responses to them. Elucidating d -amino acid-responsive regulators along with the genes they control will help uncover bacterial uses of d -amino acids. Here, we report the discovery of DarR, a novel LTTR in V. fischeri that mediates a transcriptional response to environmental d -Asp and underpins the catabolism of d -Asp. DarR represents the founding member of a group of bacterial homologs that we hypothesize control aspects of aspartate metabolism in response to d -Asp and/or to d -Asp-containing peptides.

Source: Journal of Bacteriology

DOI: 10.1128/jb.00773-17

Authors: Richard M. Jones, David L. Popham, Alicia L. Schmidt, Ellen L. Neidle, Eric V. Stabb

Institutions: University of Georgia, Virginia Tech

Language: English

Topic: Bacterial Genetics and Biotechnology

Subfield: Genetics

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: bronze

Funder: National Science Foundation

Awards: Sensing more than a quorum: The role of pheromones in the light-organ symbiont Vibrio fischeri, Fate of foreign genes in experimental evolution, Collaborative Research: Experimental Evolution of Peptidoglycan in the Bacterial Symbiont Vibrio Fischeri, Collaborative Research: Use of genome enabled tools to understand symbiosis