CcpA-Mediated Catabolite Activation of the Bacillus subtilis ilv-leu Operon and Its Negation by Either CodY- or TnrA-Mediated Negative Regulation

The Bacillus subtilis ilv-leu operon functions in the biosynthesis of branched-chain amino acids. It undergoes catabolite activation involving a promoter-proximal cre which is mediated by the complex of CcpA and P-Ser-HPr. This activation of ilv-leu expression is negatively regulated through CodY binding to a high-affinity site in the promoter region under amino acid-rich growth conditions, and it is negatively regulated through TnrA binding to the TnrA box under nitrogen-limited growth conditions. The CcpA-mediated catabolite activation of ilv-leu required a helix face-dependent interaction of the complex of CcpA and P-Ser-HPr with RNA polymerase and needed a 19-nucleotide region upstream of cre for full activation. DNase I footprinting indicated that CodY binding to the high-affinity site competitively prevented the binding of the complex of CcpA and P-Ser-HPr to cre. This CodY binding not only negated catabolite activation but also likely inhibited transcription initiation from the ilv-leu promoter. The footprinting also indicated that TnrA and the complex of CcpA and P-Ser-HPr simultaneously bound to the TnrA box and the cre site, respectively, which are 112 nucleotides apart; TnrA binding to its box was likely to induce DNA bending. This implied that interaction of TnrA bound to its box with the complex of CcpA and P-Ser-HPr bound to cre might negate catabolite activation, but TnrA bound to its box did not inhibit transcription initiation from the ilv-leu promoter. Moreover, this negation of catabolite activation by TnrA required a 26-nucleotide region downstream of the TnrA box.