cAMP receptor protein (CRP) downregulates Klebsiella pneumoniae nif promoters in Escherichia coli

In enteric bacteria, in response to the PTS system, the cAMP receptor protein (CRP) mediates the glucose effect, via regulating sigma(70)-dependent catabolic genes at transcriptional level. In this study, it is observed that the nitrogen fixation capacity of Klebsiella pneumoniae varies strongly when cells are grown on different carbohydrates, and this carbon effect occurs at the level of nif gene expression. Here we show that CRP can repress sigma(54)-dependent nif promoters (nifB, nifE, nifF, nifH, nifJ, nifLA and nifU), in a cAMP dependent fashion, in closed related E. coli background. Sequence analysis of these nif promoters indicates that there is no direct correlation between the fold of CRP-cAMP-mediated inhibition and the upstream cis elements at the promoters. In addition, the crp gene of K. pneumoniae has been isolated and sequenced, which is structural and functional highly homologous to that of E. coli. This suggests that CRP-cAMP-mediated inhibition on the nif promoters could be the reason for carbon effect on nitrogen fixation and thus has its physiological significance. A novel regulatory linkage between carbon metabolism and nitrogen fixation is proposed.http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000178124400010&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=8e1609b174ce4e31116a60747a720701Multidisciplinary SciencesSCI(E)10ARTICLE191622-16284