Molecular Analysis of Promoter and Intergenic Region Attenuator of the Vibrio vulnificus prx1ahpF Operon.

Prx1, an AhpF-dependent 2-Cys peroxiredoxin (Prx), was previously identified in Vibrio vulnificus, a facultative aerobic pathogen. In the present study, transcription of the V. vulnificus prx1ahpF genes, which are adjacently located on the chromosome, was evaluated by analyzing the promoter and intergenic region of the two genes. Northern blot analyses revealed that transcription of prx1ahpF results in two transcripts, the prx1 and prx1ahpF transcripts. Primer extension analysis and a point mutational analysis of the promoter region showed that the two transcripts are generated from a single promoter. In addition, the 3' end of the prx1 transcript at the prx1ahpF intergenic region was determined by a 3' RACE assay. These results suggested that the prx1ahpF genes are transcribed as an operon, and the prx1 transcript was produced by transcriptional termination in the intergenic region. RNA secondary structure prediction of the prx1ahpF intergenic region singled out a stem-loop structure without poly(U) tract, and a deletion analysis of the intergenic region showed that the atypical stem-loop structure acts as the transcriptional attenuator to result in the prx1 and prx1ahpF transcripts. The combined results demonstrate that the differential expression of prx1 and ahpF is accomplished by the cis-acting transcriptional attenuator located between the two genes and thereby leads to the production of a high level of Prx1 and a low level of AhpF.