Interactions between DksA and Stress-Responsive Alternative Sigma Factors Control Inorganic Polyphosphate Accumulation in Escherichia coli.

ABSTRACT: Bacteria synthesize inorganic polyphosphate (polyP) in response to a variety of different stress conditions. polyP protects bacteria by acting as a protein-stabilizing chaperone, metal chelator, or regulator of protein function, among other mechanisms. However, little is known about how stress signals are transmitted in the cell to lead to increased polyP accumulation. Previous work in the model enterobacterium Escherichia coli has indicated that the RNA polymerase-binding regulatory protein DksA is required for polyP synthesis in response to nutrient limitation stress. In this work, I set out to characterize the role of DksA in polyP regulation in more detail. I found that overexpression of DksA increases cellular polyP content (explaining the long-mysterious phenotype of dksA</

SUBMITTER: Gray MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7317045 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature