Title Negative regulation of the acsA1 gene encoding the major acetyl-CoA synthetase by cAMP receptor protein in Mycobacterium smegmatis
Author Eon-Min Ko1, Yuna Oh1, and Jeong-Il Oh1,2*
Address 1Department of Integrated Biological Science, Pusan National University, Busan 46241, Republic of Korea, 2Microbiological Resource Research Institute, Pusan National University, Busan 46241, Republic of Korea
Bibliography Journal of Microbiology, 60(12),1139-1152, 2022,
DOI 10.1007/s12275-022-2347-x
Key Words acetate, acetyl-CoA synthetase, cAMP-receptor protein, gene regulation, Mycobacterium smegmatis
Abstract Acetyl-CoA synthetase (ACS) is the enzyme that irreversibly catalyzes the synthesis of acetyl-CoA from acetate, CoA-SH, and ATP via acetyl-AMP as an intermediate. In this study, we demonstrated that AcsA1 (MSMEG_6179) is the predominantly expressed ACS among four ACSs (MSMEG_6179, MSMEG_0718, MSMEG_3986, and MSMEG_5650) found in Mycobacterium smegmatis and that a deletion mutation of acsA1 in M. smegmatis led to its compromised growth on acetate as the sole carbon source. Expression of acsA1 was demonstrated to be induced during growth on acetate as the sole carbon source. The acsA1 gene was shown to be negatively regulated by Crp1 (MSMEG_6189) that is the major cAMP receptor protein (CRP) in M. smegmatis. Using DNase I footprinting analysis and site-directed mutagenesis, a CRPbinding site (GGTGA-N6-TCACA) was identified in the upstream regulatory region of acsA1, which is important for repression of acsA1 expression. We also demonstrated that inhibition of the respiratory electron transport chain by inactivation of the major terminal oxidase, aa3 cytochrome c oxidase, led to a decrease in acsA1 expression probably through the activation of CRP. In conclusion, AcsA1 is the major ACS in M. smegmatis and its gene is under the negative regulation of Crp1, which contributes to some extent to the induction of acsA1 expression under acetate conditions. The growth of M. smegmatis is severely impaired on acetate as the sole carbon source under respiration-inhibitory conditions.