A novel DNA-binding protein, PhaR, plays a central role in the regulation of polyhydroxyalkanoate accumulation and granule formation in the haloarchaeon Haloferax mediterranei.

ABSTRACT: Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are synthesized and assembled as PHA granules that undergo well-regulated formation in many microorganisms. However, this regulation remains unclear in haloarchaea. In this study, we identified a PHA granule-associated regulator (PhaR) that negatively regulates the expression of both its own gene and the granule structural gene phaP in the same operon (phaRP) in Haloferax mediterranei. Chromatin immunoprecipitation-quantitative PCR (ChIP-qPCR) assays demonstrated a significant interaction between PhaR and the phaRP promoter in vivo. Scanning mutagenesis of the phaRP promoter revealed a specific cis-element as the possible binding position of the PhaR. The haloarchaeal homologs of the PhaR contain a novel conserved domain that belongs to a swapped-hairpin barrel

SUBMITTER: Cai S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4272714 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature