Mechanisms of Bacterial Transcription Termination: All Good Things Must End.

Transcript termination is essential for accurate gene expression and the removal of RNA polymerase (RNAP) at the ends of transcription units. In bacteria, two mechanisms are responsible for proper transcript termination: intrinsic termination and Rho-dependent termination. Intrinsic termination is mediated by signals directly encoded within the DNA template and nascent RNA, whereas Rho-dependent termination relies upon the adenosine triphosphate-dependent RNA translocase Rho, which binds nascent RNA and dissociates the elongation complex. Although significant progress has been made in understanding these pathways, fundamental details remain undetermined. Among those that remain unresolved are the existence of an inactivated intermediate in the intrinsic termination pathway, the role of Rho-RNAP interactions in Rho-dependent termination, and the mechanisms by which accessory factors and nucleoid-associated proteins affect termination. We describe current knowledge, discuss key outstanding questions, and highlight the importance of defining the structural rearrangements of RNAP that are involved in the two mechanisms of transcript termination.

High-Resolution Whole-Genome Analysis of Sister-Chromatid Contacts.

Sister-chromatid cohesion describes the orderly association of newly replicated DNA molecules behind replication forks. It plays an essential role in the maintenance and faithful transmission of genetic information. Cohesion is created by DNA topological links and proteinaceous bridges, whose formation and deposition could be potentially affected by many processes. Current knowledge on cohesion has been mainly gained by fluorescence microscopy observation. However, the resolution limit of microscopy and the restricted number of genomic positions that can be simultaneously visualized considerably hampered progress. Here, we present a high-throughput methodology to monitor sister-chromatid contacts (Hi-SC2). Using the multi-chromosomal Vibrio cholerae bacterium as a model, we show that Hi-SC2 permits to monitor local variations in sister-chromatid cohesion at a high resolution over a whole genome.

MucR protein: Three decades of studies have led to the identification of a new H-NS-like protein.

MucR belongs to a large protein family whose members regulate the expression of virulence and symbiosis genes in α-proteobacteria species. This protein and its homologs were initially studied as classical transcriptional regulators mostly involved in repression of target genes by binding their promoters. Very recent studies have led to the classification of MucR as a new type of Histone-like Nucleoid Structuring (H-NS) protein. Thus this review is an effort to put together a complete and unifying story demonstrating how genetic and biochemical findings on MucR suggested that this protein is not a classical transcriptional regulator, but functions as a novel type of H-NS-like protein, which binds AT-rich regions of genomic DNA and regulates gene expression.

Bacterial chromatin proteins, transcription, and DNA topology: Inseparable partners in the control of gene expression.

DNA in bacterial chromosomes is organized into higher-order structures by DNA-binding proteins called nucleoid-associated proteins (NAPs) or bacterial chromatin proteins (BCPs). BCPs often bind to or near DNA loci transcribed by RNA polymerase (RNAP) and can either increase or decrease gene expression. To understand the mechanisms by which BCPs alter transcription, one must consider both steric effects and the topological forces that arise when DNA deviates from its fully relaxed double-helical structure. Transcribing RNAP creates DNA negative (-) supercoils upstream and positive (+) supercoils downstream whenever RNAP and DNA are unable to rotate freely. This (-) and (+) supercoiling generates topological forces that resist forward translocation of DNA through RNAP unless the supercoiling is constrained by BCPs or relieved by topoisomerases. BCPs also may enhance topological stress and overall can either inhibit or aid transcription. Here, we review current understanding of how RNAP, BCPs, and DNA topology interplay to control gene expression.

Degradation of gene silencer is essential for expression of foreign genes and bacterial colonization of the mammalian gut.

Horizontal gene transfer drives bacterial evolution. To confer new properties, horizontally acquired genes must overcome gene silencing by nucleoid-associated proteins, such as the heat-stable nucleoid structuring (H-NS) protein. Enteric bacteria possess proteins that displace H-NS from foreign genes, form nonfunctional oligomers with H-NS, and degrade H-NS, raising the question of whether any of these mechanisms play a role in overcoming foreign gene silencing in vivo. To answer this question, we mutagenized the hns gene and identified a variant specifying an H-NS protein that binds foreign DNA and silences expression of the corresponding genes, like wild-type H-NS, but resists degradation by the Lon protease. Critically, Escherichia coli expressing this variant alone fails to produce curli, which are encoded by foreign genes and required for biofilm formation, and fails to colonize the murine gut. Our findings establish that H-NS proteolysis is a general mechanism of derepressing foreign genes and essential for colonization of mammalian hosts.

Pervasive transcription enhances the accessibility of H-NS-silenced promoters and generates bistability in Salmonella virulence gene expression.

In Escherichia coli and Salmonella, many genes silenced by the nucleoid structuring protein H-NS are activated upon inhibiting Rho-dependent transcription termination. This response is poorly understood and difficult to reconcile with the view that H-NS acts mainly by blocking transcription initiation. Here we have analyzed the basis for the up-regulation of H-NS-silenced Salmonella pathogenicity island 1 (SPI-1) in cells depleted of Rho-cofactor NusG. Evidence from genetic experiments, semiquantitative 5' rapid amplification of complementary DNA ends sequencing (5' RACE-Seq), and chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-Seq) shows that transcription originating from spurious antisense promoters, when not stopped by Rho, elongates into a H-NS-bound regulatory region of SPI-1, displacing H-NS and rendering the DNA accessible to the master regulator HilD. In turn, HilD's ability to activate its own transcription triggers a positive feedback loop that results in transcriptional activation of the entire SPI-1. Significantly, single-cell analyses revealed that this mechanism is largely responsible for the coexistence of two subpopulations of cells that either express or do not express SPI-1 genes. We propose that cell-to-cell differences produced by stochastic spurious transcription, combined with feedback loops that perpetuate the activated state, can generate bimodal gene expression patterns in bacterial populations.

Optimized infrared spectrum of ( H 2 O ) m : ( H C N ) n $$ {\left({H}_2O\right)}_m:{(HCN)}_n $$ mixtures.

Using density functional theory at D3-B3LYP/aug-cc-pVDZ level combined with the conductor-like polarizable continuum model (CPCM) solvent model, a study of the IR spectrum of H 2 O $$ {\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O} $$ :HCN mixtures is reported. The CPCM solvent effect notably enhances the accuracy of the IR spectra compared to gas-phase calculations, while the dielectric constant value has minimum impact on the final spectrum. An optimized methodology is suggested that effectively minimizes the root mean square deviation between theoretical and experimental data. This novel approach not only enhances the quality of the final IR spectra but also captures relevant spectral features, highlighting its potential to decipher molecular interactions in such intricate mixtures.

H-NS involved in positive regulation of glycerol dehydratase gene expression in Klebsiella pneumoniae 2e.

Glycerol dehydratase is the key and rate-limiting enzyme in the 1,3-propanediol synthesis pathway of Klebsiella pneumoniae, which determined the producing rate and yield of 1,3-propanediol. However, the expression regulation mechanism of glycerol dehydratase gene dhaB remains poorly unknown. In this study, a histone-like nucleoid-structuring (H-NS) protein was identified and characterized as the positive transcription regulator for dhaB expression in K. pneumoniae 2e, which exhibited high tolerance against crude glycerol in our previous study. Deletion of hns gene significantly decreased the transcription level of dhaB in K. pneumoniae 2e, which led to a remarkable defect on strain growth, glycerol dehydratase activity, and 3-hydroxypropanal production during glycerol fermentation. The transcription level of dhaB was significantly up-regulated in crude glycerol relative to pure glycerol, while the inactivation of H-NS resulted in more negative effect for transcription level of dhaB in the former. Though the H-NS expression level was almost comparable in both substrates, its multimer state was reduced in crude glycerol relative to pure glycerol, suggesting that the oligomerization state of H-NS might have contributed for positive regulation of dhaB expression. Furthermore, electrophoretic mobility shift and DNase I footprinting assays showed that H-NS could directly bind to the upstream promoter region of dhaB by recognizing the AT-rich region. These findings provided new insight into the transcriptional regulation mechanism of H-NS for glycerol dehydratase expression in K. pneumoniae, which might offer new target for engineering bacteria to industrially produce 1,3-propanediol.IMPORTANCEThe biological production of 1,3-propanediol from glycerol by microbial fermentation shows great promising prospect on industrial application. Glycerol dehydratase catalyzes the penultimate step in glycerol metabolism and is regarded as one of the key and rate-limiting enzymes for 1,3-propanediol production. H-NS was reported as a pleiotropic modulator with negative effects on gene expression in most studies. Here, we reported for the first time that the expression of glycerol dehydratase gene is positively regulated by the H-NS. The results provide insight into a novel molecular mechanism of H-NS for positive regulation of glycerol dehydratase gene expression in K. pneumoniae, which holds promising potential for facilitating construction of engineering highly efficient 1,3-propanediol-producing strains.

The LeuO regulator and quiescence: About transcriptional roadblocks, multiple promoters, and crispr-cas.

LeuO is a LysR-type transcriptional regulator in bacteria. It determines the regulation of numerous genes related to stress response and virulence. Thus, four exciting areas of research are discussed herein. One pertains the leuO gene, which in S. Typhi and in E. coli contains multiple forward promoters as well as reverse promoters, even though it is expressed at very low levels, that is, it is quiescent. Such multiplicity might allow for a greater plasticity in regulation, or even aid in maintaining the quiescence, in processes that appear to involve many nucleoid-associated proteins in a second area of opportunity. A third one relates to the effector-binding domain of the LeuO regulator, which is highly conserved in S. enterica and in E. coli and determines its activity as a regulator of transcription. A fourth area regards the role of the CRISPR-Cas system in gene regulation in S. Typhi; a system that is regulated by LeuO.

NhaR, LeuO, and H-NS Are Part of an Expanded Regulatory Network for Ectoine Biosynthesis Expression.

Bacteria accumulate compatible solutes to maintain cellular turgor pressure when exposed to high salinity. In the marine halophile Vibrio parahaemolyticus, the compatible solute ectoine is biosynthesized de novo, which is energetically more costly than uptake; therefore, tight regulation is required. To uncover novel regulators of the ectoine biosynthesis ectABC-asp_ect operon, a DNA affinity pulldown of proteins interacting with the ectABC-asp_ect regulatory region was performed. Mass spectrometry analysis identified, among others, 3 regulators: LeuO, NhaR, and the nucleoid associated protein H-NS. In-frame non-polar deletions were made for each gene and PectA-gfp promoter reporter assays were performed in exponential and stationary phase cells. PectA-gfp expression was significantly repressed in the ΔleuO mutant and significantly induced in the ΔnhaR mutant compared to wild type, suggesting positive and negative regulation, respectively. In the Δhns mutant, PectA-gfp showed increased expression in exponential phase cells, but no change compared to wild type in stationary phase cells. To examine whether H-NS interacts with LeuO or NhaR at the ectoine regulatory region, double deletion mutants were created. In a ΔleuO/Δhns mutant, PectA-gfp showed reduced expression, but significantly more than ΔleuO, suggesting H-NS and LeuO interact to regulate ectoine expression. However, ΔnhaR/Δhns had no additional effect compared to ΔnhaR, suggesting NhaR regulation is independent of H-NS. To examine leuO regulation further, a PleuO-gfp reporter analysis was examined that showed significantly increased expression in the ΔleuO, Δhns, and ΔleuO/Δhns mutants compared to wild type, indicating both are repressors. Growth pattern analysis of the mutants in M9G 6%NaCl showed growth defects compared to wild type, indicating that these regulators play an important physiological role in salinity stress tolerance outside of regulating ectoine biosynthesis gene expression. IMPORTANCE Ectoine is a commercially used compatible solute that acts as a biomolecule stabilizer because of its additional role as a chemical chaperone. A better understanding of how the ectoine biosynthetic pathway is regulated in natural bacterial producers can be used to increase efficient industrial production. The de novo biosynthesis of ectoine is essential for bacteria to survive osmotic stress when exogenous compatible solutes are absent. This study identified LeuO as a positive regulator and NhaR as a negative regulator of ectoine biosynthesis and showed that, similar to enteric species, LeuO is an anti-silencer of H-NS. In addition, defects in growth in high salinity among all the mutants suggest that these regulators play a broader role in the osmotic stress response beyond ectoine biosynthesis regulation.

MucR from Sinorhizobium meliloti: New Insights into Its DNA Targets and Its Ability to Oligomerize.

Proteins of the MucR/Ros family play a crucial role in bacterial infection or symbiosis with eukaryotic hosts. MucR from Sinorhizobium meliloti plays a regulatory role in establishing symbiosis with the host plant, both dependent and independent of Quorum Sensing. Here, we report the first characterization of MucR isolated from Sinorhizobium meliloti by mass spectrometry and demonstrate that this protein forms higher-order oligomers in its native condition of expression by SEC-MALS. We show that MucR purified from Sinorhizobium meliloti can bind DNA and recognize the region upstream of the ndvA gene in EMSA, revealing that this gene is a direct target of MucR. Although MucR DNA binding activity was already described, a detailed characterization of Sinorhizobium meliloti DNA targets has never been reported. We, thus, analyze sequences recognized by MucR in the rem gene promoter, showing that this protein recognizes AT-rich sequences and does not require a consensus sequence to bind DNA. Furthermore, we investigate the dependence of MucR DNA binding on the length of DNA targets. Taken together, our studies establish MucR from Sinorhizobium meliloti as a member of a new family of Histone-like Nucleoid Structuring (H-NS) proteins, thus explaining the multifaceted role of this protein in many species of alpha-proteobacteria.

RfaH May Oppose Silencing by H-NS and YmoA Proteins during Transcription Elongation.

Nucleoid-associated proteins (NAPs) silence xenogenes by blocking RNA polymerase binding to promoters and hindering transcript elongation. In Escherichia coli, H-NS and its homolog SptA interact with YmoA proteins Hha and YdgT to assemble nucleoprotein filaments that facilitate transcription termination by Rho, which acts in synergy with NusG. Countersilencing during initiation is facilitated by proteins that exclude NAPs from promoter regions, but auxiliary factors that alleviate silencing during elongation are not known. A specialized NusG paralog, RfaH, activates lipopolysaccharide core biosynthesis operons, enabling survival in the presence of detergents and antibiotics. RfaH strongly inhibits Rho-dependent termination by reducing RNA polymerase pausing, promoting translation, and competing with NusG. We hypothesize that RfaH also acts as a countersilencer of NAP/YmoA filaments. We show that deletions of hns and hha+ydgT suppress the growth defects of ΔrfaH by alleviating Rho-mediated polarity within the waa operon. The absence of YmoA proteins exacerbates cellular defects caused by reduced Rho levels or Rho inhibition by bicyclomycin but has negligible effects at a strong model Rho-dependent terminator. Our findings that the distribution of Hha and RfaH homologs is strongly correlated supports a model in which they comprise a silencing/countersilencing pair that controls expression of chromosomal and plasmid-encoded xenogenes. IMPORTANCE Horizontally acquired DNA drives bacterial evolution, but its unregulated expression may harm the recipient. Xenogeneic silencers recognize foreign genes and inhibit their transcription. However, some xenogenes, such as those encoding lipo- and exopolysaccharides, confer resistance to antibiotics, bile salts, and detergents, necessitating the existence of countersilencing fitness mechanisms. Here, we present evidence that Escherichia coli antiterminator RfaH alleviates silencing of the chromosomal waa operon and propose that plasmid-encoded RfaH homologs promote dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes through conjugation.

Regulatory Evolution of the phoH Ancestral Gene in Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhimurium.

One important event for the divergence of Salmonella from Escherichia coli was the acquisition by horizontal transfer of the Salmonella pathogenicity island 1 (SPI-1), containing genes required for the invasion of host cells by Salmonella. HilD is an AraC-like transcriptional regulator in SPI-1 that induces the expression of the SPI-1 and many other acquired virulence genes located in other genomic regions of Salmonella. Additionally, HilD has been shown to positively control the expression of some ancestral genes (also present in E. coli and other bacteria), including phoH. In this study, we determined that both the gain of HilD and cis-regulatory evolution led to the integration of the phoH gene into the HilD regulon. Our results indicate that a HilD-binding sequence was generated in the regulatory region of the S. enterica serovar Typhimurium phoH gene, which mediates the activation of promoter 1 of this gene under SPI-1-inducing conditions. Furthermore, we found that repression by H-NS, a histone-like protein, was also adapted on the S. Typhimurium phoH gene and that HilD activates the expression of this gene in part by antagonizing H-NS. Additionally, our results revealed that the expression of the S. Typhmurium phoH gene is also activated in response to low phosphate but independently of the PhoB/R two-component system, known to regulate the E. coli phoH gene in response to low phosphate. Thus, our results indicate that cis-regulatory evolution has played a role in the expansion of the HilD regulon and illustrate the phenomenon of differential regulation of ortholog genes. IMPORTANCE Two mechanisms mediating differentiation of bacteria are well known: acquisition of genes by horizontal transfer events and mutations in coding DNA sequences. In this study, we found that the phoH ancestral gene is differentially regulated between Salmonella Typhimurium and Escherichia coli, two closely related bacterial species. Our results indicate that this differential regulation was generated by mutations in the regulatory sequence of the S. Typhimurium phoH gene and by the acquisition by S. Typhimurium of foreign DNA encoding the transcriptional regulator HilD. Thus, our results, together with those from an increasing number of studies, indicate that cis-regulatory evolution can lead to the rewiring and reprogramming of transcriptional regulation, which also plays an important role in the divergence of bacteria through time.

Xenogeneic Silencing and Bacterial Genome Evolution: Mechanisms for DNA Recognition Imply Multifaceted Roles of Xenogeneic Silencers.

Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) is a major driving force for bacterial evolution. To avoid the deleterious effects due to the unregulated expression of newly acquired foreign genes, bacteria have evolved specific proteins named xenogeneic silencers to recognize foreign DNA sequences and suppress their transcription. As there is considerable diversity in genomic base compositions among bacteria, how xenogeneic silencers distinguish self- from nonself DNA in different bacteria remains poorly understood. This review summarizes the progress in studying the DNA binding preferences and the underlying molecular mechanisms of known xenogeneic silencer families, represented by H-NS of Escherichia coli, Lsr2 of Mycobacterium, MvaT of Pseudomonas, and Rok of Bacillus. Comparative analyses of the published data indicate that the differences in DNA recognition mechanisms enable these xenogeneic silencers to have clear characteristics in DNA sequence preferences, which are further correlated with different host genomic features. These correlations provide insights into the mechanisms of how these xenogeneic silencers selectively target foreign DNA in different genomic backgrounds. Furthermore, it is revealed that the genomic AT contents of bacterial species with the same xenogeneic silencer family proteins are distributed in a limited range and are generally lower than those species without any known xenogeneic silencers in the same phylum/class/genus, indicating that xenogeneic silencers have multifaceted roles on bacterial genome evolution. In addition to regulating horizontal gene transfer, xenogeneic silencers also act as a selective force against the GC to AT mutational bias found in bacterial genomes and help the host genomic AT contents maintained at relatively low levels.

Widespread suppression of intragenic transcription initiation by H-NS.

Widespread intragenic transcription initiation has been observed in many species. Here we show that the Escherichia coli ehxCABD operon contains numerous intragenic promoters in both sense and antisense orientations. Transcription from these promoters is silenced by the histone-like nucleoid structuring (H-NS) protein. On a genome-wide scale, we show that 46% of H-NS-suppressed transcripts in E. coli are intragenic in origin. Furthermore, many intergenic promoters repressed by H-NS are for noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs). Thus, a major overlooked function of H-NS is to prevent transcription of spurious RNA. Our data provide a molecular description for the toxicity of horizontally acquired DNA and explain how this is counteracted by H-NS.

Effects of Global and Specific DNA-Binding Proteins on Transcriptional Regulation of the E. coli bgl Operon.

Using reporter gene (lacZ) transcriptional fusions, we examined the transcriptional dependencies of the bgl promoter (Pbgl) and the entire operon regulatory region (Pbgl-bglG) on eight transcription factors as well as the inducer, salicin, and an IS5 insertion upstream of Pbgl. Crp-cAMP is the primary activator of both Pbgl and the bgl operon, while H-NS is a strong dominant operon repressor but only a weak repressor of Pbgl. H-NS may exert its repressive effect by looping the DNA at two binding sites. StpA is a relatively weak repressor in the absence of H-NS, while Fis also has a weak repressive effect. Salicin has no effect on Pbgl activity but causes a 30-fold induction of bgl operon expression. Induction depends on the activity of the BglF transporter/kinase. IS5 insertion has only a moderate effect on Pbgl but causes a much greater activation of the bgl operon expression by preventing the full repressive effects of H-NS and StpA. While several other transcription factors (BglJ, RcsB, and LeuO) have been reported to influence bgl operon transcription when overexpressed, they had little or no effect when present at wild type levels. These results indicate the important transcriptional regulatory mechanisms operative on the bgl operon in E. coli.

YbdO Promotes the Pathogenicity of Escherichia coli K1 by Regulating Capsule Synthesis.

Escherichia coli K1 is the most popular neonatal meningitis-causing Gram-negative bacterium. As a key virulence determinant, the K1 capsule enhances the survival of E. coli K1 in human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMECs) upon crossing the blood-brain barrier; however, the regulatory mechanisms of capsule synthesis during E. coli K1 invasion of HBMECs remain unclear. Here, we identified YbdO as a transcriptional regulator that promotes E. coli K1 invasion of HBMECs by directly activating K1 capsule gene expression to increase K1 capsule synthesis. We found that ybdO deletion significantly reduced HBMEC invasion by E. coli K1 and meningitis occurrence in mice. Additionally, electrophoretic mobility shift assay and chromatin immunoprecipitation-quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis indicated that YbdO directly activates kpsMT and neuDBACES expression, which encode products involved in K1 capsule transport and synthesis by directly binding to the kpsM promoter. Furthermore, ybdO transcription was directly repressed by histone-like nucleoid structuring protein (H-NS), and we observed that acidic pH similar to that of early and late endosomes relieves this transcriptional repression. These findings demonstrated the regulatory mechanism of YbdO on K1 capsule synthesis, providing further insights into the evolution of E. coli K1 pathogenesis and host-pathogen interaction.

The Ros/MucR Zinc-Finger Protein Family in Bacteria: Structure and Functions.

Ros/MucR is a widespread family of bacterial zinc-finger-containing proteins that integrate multiple functions, such as symbiosis, virulence, transcription regulation, motility, production of surface components, and various other physiological processes in cells. This regulatory protein family is conserved in bacteria and is characterized by its zinc-finger motif, which has been proposed as the ancestral domain from which the eukaryotic C2H2 zinc-finger structure has evolved. The first prokaryotic zinc-finger domain found in the transcription regulator Ros was identified in Agrobacterium tumefaciens. In the past decades, a large body of evidence revealed Ros/MucR as pleiotropic transcriptional regulators that mainly act as repressors through oligomerization and binding to AT-rich target promoters. The N-terminal domain and the zinc-finger-bearing C-terminal region of these regulatory proteins are engaged in oligomerization and DNA binding, respectively. These properties of the Ros/MucR proteins are similar to those of xenogeneic silencers, such as H-NS, MvaT, and Lsr2, which are mainly found in other lineages. In fact, a novel functional model recently proposed for this protein family suggests that they act as H-NS-'like' gene silencers. The prokaryotic zinc-finger domain exhibits interesting structural and functional features that are different from that of its eukaryotic counterpart (a ßßßα topology), as it folds in a significantly larger zinc-binding globular domain (a ßßßαα topology). Phylogenetic analysis of Ros/MucR homologs suggests an ancestral origin of this type of protein in α-Proteobacteria. Furthermore, multiple duplications and lateral gene transfer events contributing to the diversity and phyletic distribution of these regulatory proteins were found in bacterial genomes.

Long-Distance Effects of H-NS Binding in the Control of hilD Expression in the Salmonella SPI1 Locus.

Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium utilizes a type three secretion system (T3SS) carried on the Salmonella pathogenicity island 1 (SPI1) to invade intestinal epithelial cells and induce inflammatory diarrhea. HilA activates expression of the T3SS structural genes. Expression of hyper invasion locus A (hilA) is controlled by the transcription factors HilD, HilC, and RtsA, which act in a complex feed-forward regulatory loop. The nucleoid-associated protein H-NS is a xenogeneic silencer that has a major effect on SPI1 expression. In this work, we use genetic techniques to show that disruptions of the chromosomal region surrounding hilD have a cis effect on H-NS-mediated repression of the hilD promoter; this effect occurs asymmetrically over ∼4 kb spanning the prgH-hilD intergenic region. CAT cassettes inserted at various positions in this region are also silenced in relation to the proximity to the hilD promoter. We identify a putative H-NS nucleation site, and its mutation results in derepression of the locus. Furthermore, we genetically show that HilD abrogates H-NS-mediated silencing to activate the hilD promoter. In contrast, H-NS-mediated repression of the hilA promoter, downstream of hilD, is through its control of HilD, which directly activates hilA transcription. Likewise, activation of the prgH promoter, although in a region silenced by H-NS, is strictly dependent on HilA. In summary, we propose a model in which H-NS nucleates within the hilD promoter region to polymerize and exert its repressive effect. Thus, H-NS-mediated repression of SPI1 is primarily through the control of hilD expression, with HilD capable of overcoming H-NS to autoactivate. IMPORTANCE Members of the foodborne pathogen Salmonella rely on a type III secretion system to invade intestinal epithelial cells and initiate infection. This system was acquired through horizontal gene transfer, essentially creating the Salmonella genus. Expression of this critical virulence factor is controlled by a complex regulatory network. The nucleoid protein H-NS is a global repressor of horizontally acquired genomic loci. Here, we identify the critical site of H-NS regulation in this system and show that alterations to the DNA over a surprisingly large region affect this regulation, providing important information regarding the mechanism of H-NS action.

H-NS and ToxT Inversely Control Cholera Toxin Production by Binding to Overlapping DNA Sequences.

Vibrio cholerae infects human hosts following ingestion of contaminated food or water, resulting in the severe diarrheal disease cholera. The watery diarrhea that is characteristic of the disease is directly caused by the production of cholera toxin (CT). A complex regulatory cascade controls the production of CT and other virulence factors. However, ultimately, a single protein, ToxT, directly binds to virulence gene promoters and activates their transcription. Previously, we identified two ToxT binding sites, or toxboxes, within the cholera toxin promoter (PctxAB). The toxboxes overlap the two promoter-proximal GATTTTT heptad repeats found within PctxAB in classical biotype V. cholerae strain O395. These heptad repeats were previously found to be located within a large DNA region bound by H-NS, a global transcriptional repressor present in Gram-negative bacteria. The current model for the control of PctxAB transcription proposes complete H-NS displacement from the DNA by ToxT, followed by direct activation by ToxT-RNA polymerase (RNAP) contacts. The goal of this study was to determine more precisely where H-NS binds to PctxAB and test the hypothesis that ToxT completely displaces H-NS from the PctxAB promoter before activating transcription. The results suggest that H-NS binds only to the region of PctxAB encompassing the heptad repeats and that ToxT displaces H-NS only from its most promoter-proximal binding sites, calling for a revision of the current model involving H-NS and ToxT at PctxAB. IMPORTANCE H-NS is a global negative regulator of transcription in Gram-negative bacteria, particularly in horizontally acquired genetic islands. Previous work in Vibrio cholerae suggested that H-NS represses the transcription of cholera toxin genes by binding to a large region upstream of its promoter and that the virulence activator ToxT derepresses transcription by removing H-NS from the promoter. Here, new data support a revised model in which ToxT displaces only H-NS bound to the most promoter-proximal DNA sites that overlap the ToxT binding sites, leaving the upstream sites occupied by H-NS. This introduces a higher-resolution mechanism for the antirepression of H-NS in the control of cholera toxin production.