Cyclic-AMP and bacterial cyclic-AMP receptor proteins revisited: adaptation for different ecological niches

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mib.2014.01.003Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • E. coli cyclic-AMP receptor protein (CRP) is a paradigm of gene regulation.

  • Comparison of CRPs reveals differences in their affinity of cAMP.

  • A range of dependency on cAMP for DNA-binding exists.

  • CRPs have adapted to function in the specific niches occupied by the bacteria.

Escherichia coli cyclic-AMP receptor protein (CRP) represents one of the paradigms of bacterial gene regulation. Yet despite decades of intensive study, new information continues to emerge that prompts reassessment of this classic regulatory system. Moreover, in recent years CRPs from several other bacterial species have been characterized, allowing the general applicability of the CRP paradigm to be tested. Here the properties of the E. coli, Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Pseudomonas putida CRPs are considered in the context of the ecological niches occupied by these bacteria. It appears that the cyclic-AMP-CRP regulatory system has been adapted to respond to distinct external and internal inputs across a broad sensitivity range that is, at least in part, determined by bacterial lifestyles.

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