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Query: EC:6.3.4.6 (urease)
 7,490 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Urease is an inducible virulence factor of uropathogenic Proteus mirabilis. Although eight contiguous genes necessary for urease activity have been cloned and sequenced, the transcriptional organization and regulation of specific genes within the Proteus gene cluster has not been investigated in detail. The first gene, ureR, is located 400 bp upstream and is oriented in the direction opposite the other seven genes, ureDABCEFG. The structural subunits of urease are encoded by ureABC. Previously, UreR was shown to contain a putative helix-turn-helix DNA-binding motif 30 residues upstream of a consensus sequence which is a signature for the AraC family of positive regulators; this polypeptide is homologous to other DNA-binding regulatory proteins. Nested deletions of ureR linked to either ureD-lacZ or ureA-lacZ operon fusions demonstrated that an intact ureR is required for urea-induced synthesis of LacZ from either ureA or ureD and identified a urea-regulated promoter in the ureR-ureD intergenic region. However, lacZ operon fusions to fragments encompassing putative promoter regions upstream of ureA and ureF demonstrated that no urea-regulated promoters occur upstream of these open reading frames; regions upstream of ureR, ureE, and ureG were not tested. These data suggest that UreR acts as a positive regulator in the presence of urea, activating transcription of urease structural and accessory genes via sequences upstream of ureD. To address the role of the nonstructural regulatory and accessory genes, we constructed deletion, cassette, and linker insertion mutations throughout the ure gene cluster and determined the effect of these mutations on production and regulation of urease activity in Escherichia coli. Mutations were obtained, with locations determine by DNA sequencing, in all genes except ureA and ureE. In each case, the mutation resulted in a urease-negative phenotype.
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PMID:Proteus mirabilis urease: operon fusion and linker insertion analysis of ure gene organization, regulation, and function. 755 55

Urease activity is produced by members of the family Enterobacteriaceae that contain the plasmid-encoded urease locus only when urea is present in the growth medium. The plasmid-encoded urease locus contains seven tandem urease structural and accessory genes (ureDABCEFG). Previously we showed that transcription of the first gene in this cluster, ureD, is initiated at a urea-dependent promoter (ureDp). Expression from ureDp requires the product of ureR, which is transcribed divergently from the plasmid-encoded ureDABCEFG. From DNA sequence analysis, UreR is predicted to be a 34 kDa protein with identity to the AraC family of transcriptional activators. In this report we demonstrate that there are two additional urea and UreR-dependent promoters within the plasmid-encoded urease locus: ureRp and ureGp. A low-level constitutive promoter was also identified upstream of ureE (ureEp). Three major mRNA transcripts were induced when urea was present in the growth medium: a transcript containing ureDABCEF, a transcript corresponding to ureG, and a transcript corresponding to ureR. These results indicate that expression of each of the plasmid-encoded urease genes is transcriptionally regulated in response to urea and suggest that there is autogenous regulation of ureR. Therefore UreR is one of three AraC family members described thus far that are positively auto-regulated.
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PMID:UreR activates transcription at multiple promoters within the plasmid-encoded urease locus of the Enterobacteriaceae. 765 Nov 32

Proteus mirabilis urease catalyzes the hydrolysis of urea, initiating the formation of urinary stones. The enzyme is critical for kidney colonization and the development of acute pyelonephritis. Urease is induced by urea and is not controlled by the nitrogen regulatory system (ntr) or catabolite repression. Purified whole-cell RNA from induced and uninduced cultures of P. mirabilis and Escherichia coli harboring cloned urease sequences was probed with a 4.2-kb BglI fragment from within the urease operon. Autoradiographs of slot blots demonstrated 4.2- and 5.8-fold increases, respectively, in urease-specific RNA upon induction with urea. Structural and accessory genes necessary for urease activity, ureD, A, B, C, E, and F, were previously cloned and sequenced (B. D. Jones and H. L. T. Mobley, J. Bacteriol. 171:6414-6422, 1989). A 1.2-kb EcoRV-BamHI restriction fragment upstream of these sequences confers inducibility upon the operon in trans. Nucleotide sequencing of this fragment revealed a single open reading frame of 882 nucleotides, designated ureR, which is transcribed in the direction opposite that of the urease structural and accessory genes and encodes a 293-amino-acid polypeptide predicted to be 33,415 Da in size. Autoradiographs of sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels of [35S]methionine-labeled polypeptides obtained by in vitro transcription-translation of the PCR fragments carrying only ureR yielded a single band with an apparent molecular size of 32 kDa. Fragments carrying an in-frame deletion within ureR synthesized a truncated product. The predicted UreR amino acid sequence contains a potential helix-turn-helix motif and an associated AraC family signature and is similar to that predicted for a number of DNA-binding proteins, including E. coli proteins that regulate acid phosphatase synthesis (AppY), porin synthesis (EnvY), and rhamnose utilization (RhaR). These data suggest that UreR governs the inducibility of P. mirabilis urease.
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PMID:Proteus mirabilis urease: transcriptional regulation by UreR. 767 44

The nickel metalloenzyme urease catalyses the hydrolysis of urea to ammonia and carbamate, and thus generates the preferred nitrogen source of many organisms. When produced by bacterial pathogens in either the urinary tract or the gastroduodenal region, urease acts as a virulence factor. At both sites of infection urease is known to enhance the survival of the infecting bacteria. Ammonia resulting from the action of urease is believed to increase the pH of the environment to one more favourable for growth, and to injure the surrounding epithelial cells. In addition, in the urinary tract urease activity can result in the formation of urinary calculi. Bacterial urease gene clusters contain from seven to nine genes depending upon the species. These genes encode the urease structural subunits and accessory polypeptides involved in the biosynthesis of the nickel metallocentre. So far, three distinct mechanisms of urease gene expression have been described for ureolytic bacteria. Some species constitutively produce urease; some species produce urease only if urea is present in the growth medium; and some species produce urease only during nitrogen-limiting growth conditions. For either the urea-inducible genes or the nitrogen-regulated genes transcription appears to be positively regulated. In the nitrogen-regulated systems, urease gene expression requires Nac (nitrogen assimilation control), a member of the LysR family of transcriptional activators. Urea dependent expression of urease requires UreR (urease regulator), a member of the AraC family of transcriptional activators. An evolutionary tree for urease genes of eight bacterial species is proposed.
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PMID:Bacterial ureases: structure, regulation of expression and role in pathogenesis. 793 18

Ureolytic clinical isolates of Providencia stuartii, Salmonella spp., and some Escherichia coli strains contain large urease-encoding plasmids. Expression of urease activity from these isolates is induced at least 20-fold by urea. In order to facilitate studies on the regulatory mechanism controlling this urea-inducible expression, the plasmid-encoded urease genes were inserted into the low-copy-number vector pRK415, to form pSEF70. Deletion mutagenesis of pSEF70 demonstrated that between 1.3 and 1.6 kb of DNA upstream of ureD (the first of seven urease genes clustered in an operon-like fashion) was required for a urease-positive phenotype. An open reading frame coding for a 34.1-kDa polypeptide was found in the DNA sequence of this upstream region. This open reading frame has been designated ureR, for urease regulator. A urea-inducible promoter region was identified upstream of ureD. Transcription from this promoter was activated only when ureR was present in trans. The predicted ureR gene product contains a helix-turn-helix motif and shows significant amino acid similarity to the AraC family of transcriptional activators. We conclude that urea-dependent expression from the plasmid-encoded urease gene cluster requires ureR and that ureR codes for a positive regulatory element controlling transcription of at least one essential urease gene, ureD.
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PMID:The plasmid-encoded urease gene cluster of the family Enterobacteriaceae is positively regulated by UreR, a member of the AraC family of transcriptional activators. 850 Oct 50

The Proteus mirabilis and plasmid-encoded urease loci contain seven contiguous structural and accessory genes (ureDABCEFG) and the divergently transcribed ureR, which codes for an AraC-like transcriptional activator. Previously, it was shown that the plasmid-encoded ureR to ureD intergenic region contained divergent promoters (ureRp and ureDp). Transcription from these promoters required both the effector molecule urea and the activator protein UreR. In this report, we demonstrate that the P. mirabilis urease gene cluster contains similar divergent urea- and UreR-dependent promoters. The ureR gene products from either urease locus were able to activate transcription at both the plasmid-encoded and P. mirabilis promoters. The minimal concentration of urea required to activate transcription at ureRp or ureDp from either gene cluster was approximately 4 mM. The transcriptional start sites for the plasmid-encoded and P. mirabilis divergent promoters were similar in an Escherichia coli DH5 alpha background, as determined by primer-extension analysis. However, in P. mirabilis HI4320, transcription of ureR initiated predominately at an alternative site. Physical mapping and inhibition studies were used to localize the UreR-binding sites within the plasmid-encoded ureRp and ureDp intergenic sequences to regions of 68 bp and 86 bp, respectively. Gel shift analysis demonstrated that UreR bound to a 135 bp fragment in the approximate centre of the plasmid-encoded ureR to ureD intergenic region. The results presented here suggest that the P. mirabilis and plasmid-encoded urease gene clusters utilize similar mechanisms of transcriptional activation in response to urea.
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PMID:Activation of transcription at divergent urea-dependent promoters by the urease gene regulator UreR. 886 86

The closely related Proteus mirabilis and Enterobacterlaceae plasmid-encoded urease genes are positively regulated by the AraC-like transcriptional activator UreR. In the presence of the effector molecule urea, UreR promotes transcription of ureD, the initial gene in the urease operon, and increases transcription of the divergently transcribed ureR. Here, we identify UreR-specific binding sites in the ureRp-ureDp intergenic regions. Recombinant UreR (rUreR) was expressed and purified, and gel shift and DNase I protection assays were performed with this protein. These analyses indicated that there are two distinct rUreR binding sites in both the plasmid-encoded and P. mirabilis ureRp-ureDp intergenic regions. A consensus binding site of TA/GT/CA/TT/GC/TTA/TT/AATTG was predicted from the DNase I protection assays. Although rUreR bound to the specific DNA binding site in both the presence and the absence of urea, the dissociation rate constant k-1 of the rUreR-DNA complex interaction was measurably different when urea was present. In the absence of urea, the dissociation of the protein-DNA complexes, for both ureRp and ureDp, was complete at the earliest time point, and it was not possible to determine a rate. In the presence of urea, dissociation was measurable with a k-1 for the rUreR-ureRp interaction of 1.2 +/- 0.2 x 10(-2) s-1 and a k-1 for the rUreR-ureDp interaction of 2.6 +/- 0.1 x 10(-3) s-1. This corresponds to a half-life of the ureRp-rUreR interaction of 58 s, and a half-life of the ureDp-rUreR interaction of 4 min 26 s. A model describing a potential role for urea in the activation of these promoters is proposed.
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PMID:Identification of UreR binding sites in the Enterobacteriaceae plasmid-encoded and Proteus mirabilis urease gene operons. 1020 Sep 62

Expression of Proteus mirabilis urease is governed by UreR, an AraC-like positive transcriptional activator. A poly(A) tract nucleotide sequence, consisting of A(6)TA(2)CA(2)TGGTA(5)GA(6)TGA(5), is located 16 bp upstream of the sigma(70)-like ureR promoter P2. Since poly(A) tracts of DNA serve as binding sites for the gene repressor histone-like nucleoid structuring protein (H-NS), we measured beta-galactosidase activity of wild-type Escherichia coli MC4100 (H-NS(+)) and its isogenic derivative ATM121 (hns::Tn10) (H-NS(-)) harboring a ureR-lacZ operon fusion plasmid (pLC9801). beta-Galactosidase activity in the H-NS(-) host strain was constitutive and sevenfold greater (P < 0.0001) than that in the H-NS(+) host. A recombinant plasmid containing cloned P. mirabilis hns was able to complement and restore repression of the ureR promoter in the H-NS(-) host when provided in trans. Deletion of the poly(A) tract nucleotide sequence from pLC9801 resulted in an increase in beta-galactosidase activity in the H-NS(+) host to nearly the same levels as that observed for wild-type pLC9801 harbored by the H-NS(-) host. Urease activity in strains harboring the recombinant plasmid pMID1010 (encoding the entire urease gene cluster of P. mirabilis) was equivalent in both the H-NS(-) background and the H-NS(+) background in the presence of urea but was eightfold greater (P = 0.0001) in the H-NS(-) background in the absence of urea. We conclude that H-NS represses ureR expression in the absence of urea induction.
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PMID:H-NS is a repressor of the Proteus mirabilis urease transcriptional activator gene ureR. 1076 73

Proteus mirabilis urease catalyzes the hydrolysis of urea to CO(2) and NH(3), resulting in urinary stone formation in individuals with complicated urinary tract infections. UreR, a member of the AraC family, activates transcription of the genes encoding urease enzyme subunits and accessory proteins, ureDABCEFG, as well as its own transcription in the presence of urea. Based on sequence homology with AraC, we hypothesized that UreR contains both a dimerization domain and a DNA-binding domain. A translational fusion of the leucine zipper dimerization domain (amino acids 302 to 350) of C/EBP and the C-terminal half of UreR (amino acids 164 to 293) activated transcription from the ureD promoter (p(ureD)) and bound to a 60-bp fragment containing p(ureD), as analyzed by gel shift. These results were consistent with the DNA-binding specificity residing in the C-terminal half of UreR and dimerization being required for activity. To localize the dimerization domain of UreR, a translational fusion of the DNA-binding domain of the LexA repressor (amino acids 1 to 87) and the N-terminal half of UreR (amino acids 1 to 182) was constructed and found to repress transcription from p(sulA)-lacZ (sulA is repressed by LexA) and bind to the sulA operator site, as analyzed by gel shift. Since LexA binds this site only as a dimer, the UreR(1-182)-LexA(1-87) fusion also must dimerize to bind p(sulA). Indeed, purified UreR-Myc-His eluted from a gel filtration column as a dimer. Therefore, we conclude that the dimerization domain of UreR is located within the N-terminal half of UreR. UreR contains three leucines that mimic the leucines that contribute to dimerization of AraC. Mutagenesis of Leu147, Leu148, or L158 alone did not significantly affect UreR function. In contrast, mutagenesis of both Leu147 and Leu148 or all three Leu residues resulted in a 85 or 94% decrease, respectively, in UreR function in the presence of urea (P < 0.001). On the contrary, His102 and His175 mutations of UreR resulted in constitutive induction in the absence of urea. We conclude that a dimerization domain resides in the N-terminal half of the polypeptide, that Leu residues may contribute to this function, and that sequences within the C-terminal half of UreR are responsible for DNA binding to the urease promoter regions. Selected His residues also contribute significantly to UreR function.
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PMID:Identification of the domains of UreR, an AraC-like transcriptional regulator of the urease gene cluster in Proteus mirabilis. 1144 87

Identification of the environmental triggers involved in the expression of virulence genes is a fundamental objective in studies of bacterial pathogens. For uropathogens, urea, found in the urinary tract at concentrations of up to 500 mm, functions as an environmental signal. Urea freely diffuses into the bacterium Providencia stuartii and activates UreR, a member of the AraC family of transcriptional activators. Active UreR promotes transcription of virulence-associated urease genes and alerts the organisms of its immediate milieu. Thus, the UreR.urea complex has a dual role, acting as both a transcriptional activator as well as an environmental sensor. Here, we describe the molecular events associated with activation of gene expression by urea-bound UreR. The K(d) of the urea.UreR binding reaction was measured as 0.2 mm by fluorescence quenching assays, and the shape of the binding curve indicated a single specific urea-binding site on UreR. Histidine residues are critical for urea binding in urease, and therefore to identify the urea-binding site in UreR, five mutant UreR forms were generated with histidine to alanine substitutions. Two of the mutants (UreR(c)) exhibited a constitutive phenotype by both activating transcription and binding to DNA with an increased affinity in the absence of urea. The UreR(c) bound urea with an affinity similar to that of wild-type UreR. We concluded, therefore, that the mutations resulting in constitutive activity were not involved in the UreR.urea interaction. UreR was activated, then, either by binding urea or by histidine to alanine substitutions at one of two positions. Circular dichroism indicated little change in the structure of UreR when activated, and size-exclusion chromatography demonstrated that both rUreR and rUreR(c) were dimers in both the presence and absence of urea. Thus, the structural changes associated with activation are subtle.
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PMID:Urea-dependent signal transduction by the virulence regulator UreR. 1214 87


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