Study of the MarR family transcription factor CV3905 of Chromobacterium violaceum

• Grant number: 16/08728-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2016
• End date: December 31, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Molecular Genetics and Genetics of Microorganisms
• Principal Investigator: José Freire da Silva Neto
• Grantee: Júlia Aparecida Alves
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (FMRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 12/20435-9 - Transcription factors of Chromobacterium violaceum: integrating signaling pathways, regulons and pathogenicity, AP.JP

Abstract

Transcription factors are regulatory proteins that bind to specific DNA regions in response to various signals, controlling gene expression. The MarR family transcription factors act as direct sensors of multiple signals and control various processes in bacteria, such as virulence, antibiotic resistance and response to oxidative stress. Chromobacterium violaceum, a free-living beta-proteobacterium that can act as a human opportunistic pathogen, has fifteen MarR family transcription factors, some of which are being studied in our laboratory. This project aims to characterize the function and find out which genes are regulated by the MarR family transcription factor CV3905 in C. violaceum. To find genes regulated by CV3905, we will perform DNA microarray analysis with subsequent validation of selected genes. The CV3905 DNA binding sites will be defined by EMSA assays and in silico analysis. Based on the regulon found for CV3905, we will perform phenotypic testing, using a CV3905 mutant strain already available in the lab, to discover the function of this transcription factor. Thus, the data obtained in this project should help to understand the role of CV3905 in C. violaceum and, in a more broad sense, to increase our knowledge about MarR family transcription factors in bacteria.

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

ALVES, JULIA A.; PREVIATO-MELLO, MARISTELA; BARROSO, KELLY C. M.; KOIDE, TIE; DA SILVA NETO, JOSE F.. The MarR family regulator OsbR controls oxidative stress response, anaerobic nitrate respiration, and biofilm formation in Chromobacterium violaceum. BMC Microbiology, v. 21, n. 1, NOV 4 2021. (20/00259-8, 12/20435-9, 16/08728-1, 13/25745-9)