Structure of a Core Promoter in Bifidobacterium longum NCC2705

Abstract

The structures of sigma factors vary among bacterial strains, indicating that recognition rules may also vary. Therefore, we investigated the promoter structure of Bifidobacterium longum NCC2705 using a bioinformatics approach and wet analyses. The most frequent and optimal motifs were similar to other bacterial consensus motifs. The optimal spacer length between the two boxes was reported to be 17 bp. It is widely applied to a bioinformatics approach for other bacteria. Unexpectedly, conserved spacer lengths were 11 bp as well as 17 bp in the genus Bifidobacterium . Moreover, the sigma factor of the genus Bifidobacterium has a characteristic domain in the N terminus which may contribute to the additional functions. Hence, it would be valuable to reevaluate the promoter in other organisms.