The transcriptional factors MurR and catabolite activator protein regulate N-acetylmuramic acid catabolism in Escherichia coli.

ABSTRACT: The MurNAc etherase MurQ of Escherichia coli is essential for the catabolism of the bacterial cell wall sugar N-acetylmuramic acid (MurNAc) obtained either from the environment or from the endogenous cell wall (i.e., recycling). High-level expression of murQ is required for growth on MurNAc as the sole source of carbon and energy, whereas constitutive low-level expression of murQ is sufficient for the recycling of peptidoglycan fragments continuously released from the cell wall during growth of the bacteria. Here we characterize for the first time the expression of murQ and its regulation by MurR, a member of the poorly characterized RpiR/AlsR family of transcriptional regulators. Deleting murR abolished the extensive lag phase observed for E. coli grown on MurNAc and enhanced murQ transcr

SUBMITTER: Jaeger T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2566201 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature