Effects of Depletion of RNA-Binding Protein Tex on the Expression of Toxin Genes in Clostridium perfringens
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Abstract
Tex was originally identified in <I>Bordetella pertussis</I>, where it serves as a transcriptional regulator of toxin genes. However, the Tex of <I>Streptococcus pneumoniae</I> has no regulatory function in the expression of the pneumococcal major toxin pneumolysin. Here, we identified the CPE2168 gene as Tex in <I>Clostridium perfringens</I>, and examined the roles of Tex in toxin gene expression. We found that the deletion mutant for Tex does not affect growth, but the mRNA levels of three hyaluronidase genes (<I>nagH</I>, <I>nagJ</I>, and <I>nagL</I>) and an exo-sialidase (<I>nanJ</I>) were reduced to less than 50% as compared to the parent strain, <I>C. perfringens</I> strain 13. On the other hand, Tex did not affect the expression of proteases, enterotoxins, hemolysins, either of two hyaluronidase genes (<I>nagI</I> and <I>nagK</I>), an exo-sialidase (<I>nanI</I>), or adhesins. Moreover, purified Tex bound to the 5′-portion of target gene mRNAs. Based on these results, we propose that Tex positively regulates the gene expression of a set of toxin genes in <I>C. perfringens</I>.
Journal
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- Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry
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Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry 74(8), 1564-1571, 2010-08-23
Japan Society for Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Agrochemistry