Peter GODFREY-SMITH
H-NS
Microorganisms are able to thrive in environments differing by their temperature, osmolarity, pH, nutrient availability, etc. by rapidly adapting their structure and physiology. The corresponding processes are based on the existence of multiple regulatory networks that control gene expression in a coordinate manner in response to environmental stimuli, and in particular to changes in the environment.
Among the many genes that coordinate gene expression in gamma-proteobacteria the hns gene is particularly important. It has been characterized as a model system for studying the regulation of bacterial physiology. In Escherichia coli, the H-NS protein is involved in numerous cellular functions, affecting the expression of genes regulated by environmental factors or required in virulence.
Our experiments showed that proteins of the H-NS family are widespread in Gram-negative bacteria. Their structural and functional organization seems to be evolutionarily conserved. In particular, they are organized in two modules: the N-terminal part involved in oligomerization is specific for a bacterial family and linked to the C-terminal DNA-binding domain by a loop. At least in E. coli and related bacteria, H-NS-like proteins play a major role in bacterial physiology by controlling the expression of numerous genes such as those involved in bacterial motility. Most of them are regulated in response to environmental stresses, which suggests a role for H-NS in the maintenance of homeostasis, an essential condition for the survival inside their host.
P
Lejeune, P Bertin, C Walon, K Willemot, C Colson, A Danchin
A locus involved in kanamycin, chloramphenicol and L-serine resistance
is located in the bglY-galU region of the Escherichia coli
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Mol Gen Genet (1989) 218: 361-363
P Bertin, P Lejeune, C Laurent-Winter, A Danchin
Mutations in bglY, the structural gene for the DNA-binding
protein H1, affect expression of several Escherichia coli
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P Lejeune, A Danchin
Mutations in the bglY gene increase the frequency of
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Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A (1990) 87: 360-363
P Bertin, P Lejeune, C Colson, A Danchin
Mutations in bglY, the structural gene for the DNA-binding
protein H1 of Escherichia coli, increase the expression of
the kanamycin resistance gene carried by plasmid pGR71
Mol Gen Genet (1992) 233: 184-192
P Bertin, E Terao, EH Lee, P Lejeune, C
Colson, A Danchin, E Collatz
The H-NS protein is involved in the biogenesis of flagella in Escherichia
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J Bacteriol (1994) 176: 5537-5540
JR Landgraf, M Levinthal, A Danchin
The role of H-NS in one carbon metabolism
Biochimie (1994) 76: 1063-1070
M Levinthal, P Lejeune, A Danchin
The H-NS protein modulates the activation of the ilvIH
operon of Escherichia coli K12 by Lrp, the leucine
regulatory protein
Mol Gen Genet (1994) 242: 736-743
A Danchin, E Krin
Filling the gap between hns and adhE in Escherichia
coli K12
Microbiology (1995) 141 ( Pt 4): 959-960
C Laurent-Winter, P Lejeune, A Danchin
The Escherichia coli DNA-binding protein H-NS is one of the
first proteins to be synthesized after a nutritional upshift
Res Microbiol (1995) 146: 5-16
C Laurent-Winter, S Ngo, A Danchin, P Bertin
Role of Escherichia coli histone-like
nucleoid-structuring protein in bacterial metabolism and stress
response--identification of targets by two-dimensional
electrophoresis
Eur J Biochem (1997) 244: 767-773
P Bertin, N Benhabiles, E Krin, C Laurent-Winter, C Tendeng, E
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The structural and functional organization of H-NS-like
proteins is evolutionarily conserved in gram-negative bacteria
Mol Microbiol (1999) 31: 319-329
O Soutourina, A Kolb, E Krin, C
Laurent-Winter, S Rimsky, A Danchin, P Bertin
Multiple control of flagellum biosynthesis in Escherichia
coli: role of H-NS protein and the cyclic AMP-catabolite
activator protein complex in transcription of the flhDC
master operon
J Bacteriol (1999) 181: 7500-7508
C Tendeng, C Badaut, E Krin, P Gounon, S Ngo,
A Danchin, S Rimsky, P Bertin
Isolation and characterization of vicH, encoding a new
pleiotropic regulator in Vibrio cholerae
J Bacteriol (2000) 182: 2026-2032
P Bertin, F Hommais, E Krin, O Soutourina, C
Tendeng, S Derzelle, A Danchin
H-NS and H-NS-like proteins in Gram-negative bacteria and
their multiple role in the regulation of bacterial metabolism
Biochimie (2001) 83: 235-241
F Hommais, E Krin, C Laurent-Winter, O Soutourina, A Malpertuy, JP
Le Caer, A Danchin, P Bertin
Large-scale monitoring of pleiotropic regulation of gene expression
by the prokaryotic nucleoid-associated protein, H-NS
Mol Microbiol (2001) 40: 20-36
F
Hommais, C Laurent-Winter, V Labas, E Krin, C Tendeng, O
Soutourina, A Danchin, P Bertin
Effect of mild acid pH on the functioning of bacterial
membranes in Vibrio cholerae
Proteomics (2002) 2: 571-579
OA
Soutourina, E Krin, C Laurent-Winter, F Hommais, A Danchin, PN
Bertin
Regulation of bacterial motility in response to low pH in Escherichia
coli: the role of H-NS protein
Microbiology (2002) 148: 1543-1551
C
Tendeng, OA Soutourina, A Danchin, PN Bertin
MvaT proteins in Pseudomonas spp.: a novel class of
H-NS-like proteins
Microbiology (2003) 149: 3047-3050
C
Tendeng, E Krin, OA Soutourina, A Marin, A Danchin, PN Bertin
A Novel H-NS-like protein from an antarctic psychrophilic bacterium
reveals a crucial role for the N-terminal domain in thermal
stability
J Biol Chem (2003) 278: 18754-18760
F
Hommais, E Krin, JY Coppée, C Lacroix, E Yeramian, A Danchin, P
Bertin
GadE (YhiE): a novel activator involved in the response to
acid environment in Escherichia coli
Microbiology (2004) 150: 61-72
C
Médigue, E Krin, G Pascal, V Barbe, A Bernsel, PN Bertin, F
Cheung, S Cruveiller, S D'Amico, A Duilio, G Fang, G Feller, C Ho,
S Mangenot, G Marino, J Nilsson, E Parrilli, EPC Rocha, Z Rouy, A
Sekowska, ML Tutino, D Vallenet, G von Heijne, A Danchin
Coping with cold: the genome of the versatile marine
Antarctica bacterium Pseudoalteromonas haloplanktis TAC125
Genome Res (2005) 15: 1325-1335
E
Krin, S Derzelle, K Bedard, M Adib-Conquy, E Turlin, P Lenormand,
M-F Hullo, I Bonne, N Chakroun, C Lacroix, A Danchin
Regulatory role of UvrY in adaptation of Photorhabdus
luminescens growth inside the insect
Environmental Microbiology (2008) 10: 1118–1134
Y
Jin, RM Watt, A Danchin, JD Huang
Small noncoding RNA GcvB is a novel regulator of acid resistance in
Escherichia coli
BMC Genomics (2009) 10: 165