Sensing iron availability via the fragile [4Fe-4S] cluster of the bacterial transcriptional repressor RirA

Pellicer Martinez, Maria, Bermejo Martinez, Ana, Crack, Jason, Holmes, John D., Svistunenko, Dimitri, Johnston, Andrew, Cheesman, Myles, Todd, Jonathan and Le Brun, Nick ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9780-4061 (2017) Sensing iron availability via the fragile [4Fe-4S] cluster of the bacterial transcriptional repressor RirA. Chemical Science, 8. pp. 8451-8463. ISSN 2041-6520

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Abstract

Rhizobial iron regulator A (RirA) is a global regulator of iron homeostasis in many nitrogen-fixing Rhizobia and related species of α-proteobacteria. It belongs to the widespread Rrf2 super-family of transcriptional regulators and features three conserved Cys residues that characterise the binding of an iron–sulfur cluster in other Rrf2 family regulators. Here we report biophysical studies demonstrating that RirA contains a [4Fe–4S] cluster, and that this form of the protein binds RirA-regulated DNA, consistent with its function as a repressor of expression of many genes involved in iron uptake. Under low iron conditions, [4Fe–4S] RirA undergoes a cluster conversion reaction resulting in a [2Fe–2S] form, which exhibits much lower affinity for DNA. Under prolonged low iron conditions, the [2Fe–2S] cluster degrades to apo-RirA, which does not bind DNA and can no longer function as a repressor of the cell's iron-uptake machinery. [4Fe–4S] RirA was also found to be sensitive to O2, suggesting that both iron and O2 are important signals for iron metabolism. Consistent with this, in vivo data showed that expression of RirA-regulated genes is also affected by O2. These data lead us to propose a novel regulatory model for iron homeostasis, in which RirA senses iron via the incorporation of a fragile iron–sulfur cluster that is sensitive to iron and O2 concentrations.

Item Type:	Article
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Science Faculty of Science > School of Biological Sciences Faculty of Science > School of Chemistry (former - to 2024)
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Molecular Microbiology Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Biophysical Chemistry (former - to 2017) Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Chemistry of Life Processes Faculty of Science > Research Groups > Chemistry of Light and Energy Faculty of Science > Research Centres > Centre for Molecular and Structural Biochemistry
Depositing User:	Pure Connector
Date Deposited:	01 Nov 2017 06:06
Last Modified:	11 Dec 2024 01:28
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/65323
DOI:	10.1039/C7SC02801F

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