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Publication Abstract from PubMed

The GntR superfamily of dimeric transcription factors, with more than 6200 members encoded in bacterial genomes, are characterized by N-terminal winged-helix DNA-binding domains and diverse C-terminal regulatory domains which provide a basis for the classification of the constituent families. The largest of these families, FadR, contains nearly 3000 proteins with all-alpha-helical regulatory domains classified into two related Pfam families: FadR_C and FCD. Only two crystal structures of FadR-family members, those of Escherichia coli FadR protein and LldR from Corynebacterium glutamicum, have been described to date in the literature. Here, the crystal structure of TM0439, a GntR regulator with an FCD domain found in the Thermotoga maritima genome, is described. The FCD domain is similar to that of the LldR regulator and contains a buried metal-binding site. Using atomic absorption spectroscopy and Trp fluorescence, it is shown that the recombinant protein contains bound Ni(2+) ions but that it is able to bind Zn(2+) with K(d) < 70 nM. It is concluded that Zn(2+) is the likely physiological metal and that it may perform either structural or regulatory roles or both. Finally, the TM0439 structure is compared with two other FadR-family structures recently deposited by structural genomics consortia. The results call for a revision in the classification of the FadR family of transcription factors.

Structure of Thermotoga maritima TM0439: implications for the mechanism of bacterial GntR transcription regulators with Zn2+-binding FCD domains.,Zheng M, Cooper DR, Grossoehme NE, Yu M, Hung LW, Cieslik M, Derewenda U, Lesley SA, Wilson IA, Giedroc DP, Derewenda ZS Acta Crystallogr D Biol Crystallogr. 2009 Apr;65(Pt 4):356-65. Epub 2009, Mar 19. PMID:19307717^[1]

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.