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The Staphylococcus aureus pSK41 plasmid-encoded ArtA protein is a master regulator of plasmid transmission genes and contains a RHH motif used in alternate DNA-binding modes.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Ni, L; Jensen, SO; Ky Tonthat, N; Berg, T; Kwong, SM; Guan, FHX; Brown, MH; Skurray, RA; Firth, N; Schumacher, MA
Published in: Nucleic Acids Res
November 2009

Plasmids harbored by Staphylococcus aureus are a major contributor to the spread of bacterial multi-drug resistance. Plasmid conjugation and partition are critical to the dissemination and inheritance of such plasmids. Here, we demonstrate that the ArtA protein encoded by the S. aureus multi-resistance plasmid pSK41 is a global transcriptional regulator of pSK41 genes, including those involved in conjugation and segregation. ArtA shows no sequence homology to any structurally characterized DNA-binding protein. To elucidate the mechanism by which it specifically recognizes its DNA site, we obtained the structure of ArtA bound to its cognate operator, ACATGACATG. The structure reveals that ArtA is representative of a new family of ribbon-helix-helix (RHH) DNA-binding proteins that contain extended, N-terminal basic motifs. Strikingly, unlike most well-studied RHH proteins ArtA binds its cognate operators as a dimer. However, we demonstrate that it is also able to recognize an atypical operator site by binding as a dimer-of-dimers and the extended N-terminal regions of ArtA were shown to be essential for this dimer-of-dimer binding mode. Thus, these data indicate that ArtA is a master regulator of genes critical for both horizontal and vertical transmission of pSK41 and that it can recognize DNA utilizing alternate binding modes.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Nucleic Acids Res

DOI

EISSN

1362-4962

Publication Date

November 2009

Volume

37

Issue

20

Start / End Page

6970 / 6983

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • Transcription, Genetic
  • Transcription Factors
  • Regulon
  • Plasmids
  • Operator Regions, Genetic
  • Nucleic Acid Conformation
  • Models, Molecular
  • Developmental Biology
  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • DNA
 

Citation

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Ni, L., Jensen, S. O., Ky Tonthat, N., Berg, T., Kwong, S. M., Guan, F. H. X., … Schumacher, M. A. (2009). The Staphylococcus aureus pSK41 plasmid-encoded ArtA protein is a master regulator of plasmid transmission genes and contains a RHH motif used in alternate DNA-binding modes. Nucleic Acids Res, 37(20), 6970–6983. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkp756
Ni, Lisheng, Slade O. Jensen, Nam Ky Tonthat, Tracey Berg, Stephen M. Kwong, Fiona H. X. Guan, Melissa H. Brown, Ronald A. Skurray, Neville Firth, and Maria A. Schumacher. “The Staphylococcus aureus pSK41 plasmid-encoded ArtA protein is a master regulator of plasmid transmission genes and contains a RHH motif used in alternate DNA-binding modes.Nucleic Acids Res 37, no. 20 (November 2009): 6970–83. https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkp756.
Ni, Lisheng, et al. “The Staphylococcus aureus pSK41 plasmid-encoded ArtA protein is a master regulator of plasmid transmission genes and contains a RHH motif used in alternate DNA-binding modes.Nucleic Acids Res, vol. 37, no. 20, Nov. 2009, pp. 6970–83. Pubmed, doi:10.1093/nar/gkp756.
Ni L, Jensen SO, Ky Tonthat N, Berg T, Kwong SM, Guan FHX, Brown MH, Skurray RA, Firth N, Schumacher MA. The Staphylococcus aureus pSK41 plasmid-encoded ArtA protein is a master regulator of plasmid transmission genes and contains a RHH motif used in alternate DNA-binding modes. Nucleic Acids Res. 2009 Nov;37(20):6970–6983.
Journal cover image

Published In

Nucleic Acids Res

DOI

EISSN

1362-4962

Publication Date

November 2009

Volume

37

Issue

20

Start / End Page

6970 / 6983

Location

England

Related Subject Headings

  • Transcription, Genetic
  • Transcription Factors
  • Regulon
  • Plasmids
  • Operator Regions, Genetic
  • Nucleic Acid Conformation
  • Models, Molecular
  • Developmental Biology
  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • DNA