Affiliation:
1. Department of Food Hygiene and Environmental Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Botulinum neurotoxin, produced mainly by the spore-forming bacterium
Clostridium botulinum
, is the most poisonous biological substance known. Here, we show that CodY, a global regulator conserved in low-G+C Gram-positive bacteria, positively regulates the botulinum neurotoxin gene expression. Inactivation of
codY
resulted in decreased expression of
botA
, encoding the neurotoxin, as well as in reduced neurotoxin synthesis. Complementation of the
codY
mutation in
trans
rescued neurotoxin synthesis, and overexpression of
codY
in
trans
caused elevated neurotoxin production. Recombinant CodY was found to bind to a 30-bp region containing the
botA
transcription start site, suggesting regulation of the neurotoxin gene transcription through direct interaction. GTP enhanced the binding affinity of CodY to the
botA
promoter, suggesting that CodY-dependent neurotoxin regulation is associated with nutritional status.
Publisher
American Society for Microbiology
Subject
Ecology,Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology,Food Science,Biotechnology
Cited by
23 articles.
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