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Comparative genomics and evolution of regulons of the LacI-family transcription factors

Journal Article · · Frontiers in Microbiology
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [2];  [6]
  1. Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Moscow (Russian Federation); DOE/OSTI
  2. Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Moscow (Russian Federation)
  3. Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Moscow (Russian Federation); Moscow State University, Moscow (Russian Federation)
  4. Moscow State University, Moscow (Russian Federation)
  5. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  6. Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), Moscow (Russian Federation); Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, La Jolla, CA (United States)

DNA-binding transcription factors (TFs) are essential components of transcriptional regulatory networks in bacteria. LacI-family TFs (LacI-TFs) are broadly distributed among certain lineages of bacteria. The majority of characterized LacI-TFs sense sugar effectors and regulate carbohydrate utilization genes. The comparative genomics approaches enable in silico identification of TF-binding sites and regulon reconstruction. To study the function and evolution of LacI-TFs, we performed genomics-based reconstruction and comparative analysis of their regulons. For over 1300 LacI-TFs from over 270 bacterial genomes, we predicted their cognate DNA-binding motifs and identified target genes. Using the genome context and metabolic subsystem analyses of reconstructed regulons, we tentatively assigned functional roles and predicted candidate effectors for 78 and 67% of the analyzed LacI-TFs, respectively. Nearly 90% of the studied LacI-TFs are local regulators of sugar utilization pathways, whereas the remaining 125 global regulators control large and diverse sets of metabolic genes. The global LacI-TFs include the previously known regulators CcpA in Firmicutes, FruR in Enterobacteria, and PurR in Gammaproteobacteria, as well as the three novel regulators—GluR, GapR, and PckR—that are predicted to control the central carbohydrate metabolism in three lineages of Alphaproteobacteria. Phylogenetic analysis of regulators combined with the reconstructed regulons provides a model of evolutionary diversification of the LacI protein family. The obtained genomic collection of in silico reconstructed LacI-TF regulons in bacteria is available in the RegPrecise database (http://regprecise.lbl.gov). It provides a framework for future structural and functional classification of the LacI protein family and identification of molecular determinants of the DNA and ligand specificity. The inferred regulons can be also used for functional gene annotation and reconstruction of sugar catabolic networks in diverse bacterial lineages.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); Russian Foundation for Basic Research
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1628110
Journal Information:
Frontiers in Microbiology, Journal Name: Frontiers in Microbiology Vol. 5; ISSN 1664-302X
Publisher:
Frontiers Research FoundationCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (21)

AlloRep: A Repository of Sequence, Structural and Mutagenesis Data for the LacI/GalR Transcription Regulators journal February 2016
Experimental Strategies for Functional Annotation and Metabolism Discovery: Targeted Screening of Solute Binding Proteins and Unbiased Panning of Metabolomes journal January 2015
The structure and function of the global citrus rhizosphere microbiome journal November 2018
Transcription factor YcjW controls the emergency H2S production in E. coli journal June 2019
A genome-wide approach for identification and characterisation of metabolite-inducible systems journal March 2020
The phosphocarrier protein HPr of the bacterial phosphotransferase system globally regulates energy metabolism by directly interacting with multiple enzymes in Escherichia coli journal August 2017
Engineering repressors with coevolutionary cues facilitates toggle switches with a master reset journal April 2019
Comparative genomics of pyridoxal 5′-phosphate-dependent transcription factor regulons in Bacteria journal January 2016
Comparative genomics and evolution of transcriptional regulons in Proteobacteria journal July 2016
Assessment of transfer methods for comparative genomics of regulatory networks in bacteria journal August 2016
The LacI–family transcription factor, RbsR, is a pleiotropic regulator of motility, virulence, siderophore and antibiotic production, gas vesicle morphogenesis and flotation in Serratia text January 2017
Transcriptional Regulation of Carbohydrate Utilization Pathways in the Bifidobacterium Genus journal February 2016
Bifidobacteria and Their Role as Members of the Human Gut Microbiota journal June 2016
Genomic Reconstruction of Carbohydrate Utilization Capacities in Microbial-Mat Derived Consortia journal July 2017
CO2-Induced Transcriptional Reorganization: Molecular Basis of Capnophillic Lactic Fermentation in Thermotoga neapolitana journal February 2020
Additional file 1 of Genome-scale identification and comparative analysis of transcription factors in thermophilic cyanobacteria dataset January 2024
Randomised clinical trial: gut microbiome biomarkers are associated with clinical response to a low FODMAP diet in children with the irritable bowel syndrome journal June 2015
Bifidobacterium breve UCC2003 Employs Multiple Transcriptional Regulators To Control Metabolism of Particular Human Milk Oligosaccharides journal March 2018
The LacI–Family Transcription Factor, RbsR, Is a Pleiotropic Regulator of Motility, Virulence, Siderophore and Antibiotic Production, Gas Vesicle Morphogenesis and Flotation in Serratia journal September 2017
Comparative Genomics Reveals the Regulatory Complexity of Bifidobacterial Arabinose and Arabino-Oligosaccharide Utilization journal April 2018
Essentiality of the Maltase AmlE in Maltose Utilization and Its Transcriptional Regulation by the Repressor AmlR in the Acarbose-Producing Bacterium Actinoplanes sp. SE50/110 journal October 2019

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