Hypochlorous acid activates the heat shock and soxRS systems of Escherichia coli

Sam Dukan*, Sara Dadon, Dana R. Smulski, Shimshon Belkin

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

68 Scopus citations

Abstract

A series of plasmids, containing fusions of different stress promoters to lux reporter genes, was used in an attempt to monitor the defense circuits activated upon exposure of Escherichia coli to sublethal doses of free chlorine. A significant level of activation was exhibited by promoters of three heat shuck genes (grpE, dnaK, and lon), in an rpoH-dependent manner. The promoter of micF, a gene under the control of the soxRS regulon, was also strongly induced, but not in a soxR mutant. This induction was not affected by soda and sodB mutations, implying that it did not involve oxygen radical activity. Free-chlorine activation of both heat shuck and soxRS regulons required an exposure of less then 1 s in duration. The oxyR or the SOS regulons were apparently not induced by free chlorine (as judged by lack of activation of katG and recA, respectively), and neither was the universal stress (uspA) protein.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4003-4008
Number of pages6
JournalApplied and Environmental Microbiology
Volume62
Issue number11
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1996
Externally publishedYes

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Hypochlorous acid activates the heat shock and soxRS systems of Escherichia coli'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this