Mutations That Stimulate flhDC Expression in Escherichia coli K-12

Abstract

ABSTRACT Motility is a beneficial attribute that enables cells to access and explore new environments and to escape detrimental ones. The organelle of motility in Escherichia coli is the flagellum, and its production is initiated by the activating transcription factors FlhD and FlhC. The expression of these factors by the flhDC operon is highly regulated and influenced by environmental conditions. The flhDC promoter is recognized by σ 70 and is dependent on the transcriptional activator cyclic AMP (cAMP)-cAMP receptor protein complex (cAMP-CRP). A number of K-12 strains exhibit limited motility due to low expression levels of flhDC . We report here a large number of mutations that stimulate flhDC expression in such strains. They include single nucleotide changes in the −10 element of the promoter, in the promoter spacer, and in the cAMP-CRP binding region. In addition, we show that insertion sequence (IS) elements or a kanamycin gene located hundreds of base pairs upstream of the promoter can effectively enhance transcription, suggesting that the topology of a large upstream region plays a significant role in the regulation of flhDC expression. None of the mutations eliminated the requirement for cAMP-CRP for activation. However, several mutations allowed expression in the absence of the nucleoid organizing protein, H-NS, which is normally required for flhDC expression. IMPORTANCE The flhDC operon of Escherichia coli encodes transcription factors that initiate flagellar synthesis, an energetically costly process that is highly regulated. Few deregulating mutations have been reported thus far. This paper describes new single nucleotide mutations that stimulate flhDC expression, including a number that map to the promoter spacer region. In addition, this work shows that insertion sequence elements or a kanamycin gene located far upstream from the promoter or repressor binding sites also stimulate transcription, indicating a role of regional topology in the regulation of flhDC expression.