Role of the catabolite activator protein in the maltose regulon of Escherichia coli

Abstract

The maltose regulon consists of three operons controlled by a positive regulatory gene, malT. Deletions of the gene crp were introduced into strains which carried a malT-lacZ hybrid gene. From the observed reduction in beta-galactosidase activity it was concluded that the expression of malT-lacZ, and therefore of malT, is controlled by the catabolite activator protein (CAP), the product of the gene crp. Mutations were obtained which allowed a malT-lacZ hybrid gene to be expressed at a high level even in the absence of CAP. These mutations were shown to be located in or close to the promoter of the malT gene and were called malTp. The malTp mutations were transferred in the cis position to a wild-type malT gene. In the resulting strains, the expression of two of the maltose operons, malEFG and malK-lamB, still required the action of CAP, whereas that of the third operon, malPQ, was CAP independent. Therefore, in wild-type cells, CAP appears to control malPQ expression mainly, if not solely, by regulating the concentration of MalT protein in the cell. On the other hand, it controls the other two operons more stringently, both by regulating malT expression and by a more direct action, probably exerted in the promoters of these operons.