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- * Bacterial regulatory proteins, arsR family signature *
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-
- The many bacterial transcription regulation proteins which bind DNA through a
- 'helix-turn-helix' motif can be classified into subfamilies on the basis of
- sequence similarities. One of these subfamilies, which we call arsR, groups
- together proteins that seem to dissociate from DNA in presence of metal ions.
- These proteins are listed below.
-
- - arsR from various plasmids (such as R773, pSX267, pI258). ArsR acts as a
- transcriptional repressor of an arsenic resistance operon (ars).
- - smtB from Synechococcus PCC 7942. SmtB is a transcriptional repressor of
- the smtA gene that codes for a metallothionein.
- - cadC from plasmid pI258 and from Bacillus firmus OF4. CadC is a protein
- required for full cadmium-resistance.
-
- It has been shown [1] that there could be a helix-turn-helix (H-T-H) region
- in the central part of these proteins. An interesting feature of this putative
- H-T-H region is that it contains, at its N-terminal extremity, one perfectly
- conserved cysteine residue and another one which is found in arsR and cadC but
- not in smtA and at its C-terminal extremity at least one and generally two
- histidine residues. We believe [2] that these residues could be involved in
- metal-binding (zinc in smtB, metal-oxyanions such as arsenite, antimonite and
- arsenate for arsR, and cadmium for cadC). Binding of a metal ion could induce
- a conformational change that would prohibit the protein from binding to DNA.
- Such a mechanism is highly suitable for regulatory systems that act to
- regulate the transcription of proteins involved in metal-ions efflux and/or
- detoxification.
-
- The signature pattern for these proteins span the entire helix-turn-helix
- region.
-
- -Consensus pattern: C-x(2)-D-[LIVM]-x(6)-[ST]-x(4)-S-[HR]-[HQ]
- -Sequences known to belong to this class detected by the pattern: ALL.
- -Last update: October 1993 / First entry.
-
- [ 1] Morby A.P., Turner J.S., Huckle J.W., Robinson N.J.
- Nucleic Acids Res. 21:921-925(1993).
- [ 2] Bairoch A.
- Nucleic Acids Res. 21:2515-2515(1993).
-