AUTHOR=Manzoor Irfan , Shafeeq Sulman , Afzal Muhammad , Kuipers Oscar P. 

TITLE=The Regulation of the AdcR Regulon in Streptococcus pneumoniae Depends Both on Zn2+- and Ni2+-Availability

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology

VOLUME=5

YEAR=2015

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/cellular-and-infection-microbiology/articles/10.3389/fcimb.2015.00091

DOI=10.3389/fcimb.2015.00091

ISSN=2235-2988

ABSTRACT=<p>By using a transcriptomic approach, we have elucidated the effect of Ni<sup>2+</sup> on the global gene expression of <italic>S. pneumoniae</italic> D39 by identifying several differentially expressed genes/operons in the presence of a high extracellular concentration of Ni<sup>2+</sup>. The genes belonging to the AdcR regulon (<italic>adcRCBA, adcAII</italic>-<italic>phtD, phtA, phtB</italic>, and <italic>phtE</italic>) and the PsaR regulon (<italic>pcpA, prtA</italic>, and <italic>psaBCA</italic>) were highly upregulated in the presence of Ni<sup>2+</sup>. We have further studied the role of Ni<sup>2+</sup> in the regulation of the AdcR regulon by using ICP-MS analysis, electrophoretic mobility shift assays and transcriptional <italic>lacZ</italic>-reporter studies, and demonstrate that Ni<sup>2+</sup> is directly involved in the derepression of the AdcR regulon <italic>via</italic> the Zn<sup>2+</sup>-dependent repressor AdcR, and has an opposite effect on the expression of the AdcR regulon compared to Zn<sup>2+</sup>.</p>