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Updated: Aug 19, 2026

A Fluorescence-based Method to Study Bacterial Gene Regulation in Infected Tissues
Published on: February 19, 2019
Transcription activation of a UV-inducible Clostridium perfringens bacteriocin gene by a novel sigma factor
Bruno Dupuy1, Nagraj Mani, Seiichi Katayama
1Unité de Génétique Moléculaire Bactérienne, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France. bdupuy@pasteur.fr
Abstract:
Expression of the plasmid-encoded Clostridium perfringens gene for bacteriocin BCN5 was shown to depend in vivo and in vitro on the activity of UviA protein. UviA, also plasmid-encoded, proved to be an RNA polymerase sigma factor and was also partly autoregulatory. The uviA gene has two promoters; one provided a UviA-independent, basal level of gene expression while the stronger, UviA-dependent promoter was only utilized after the cell experienced DNA damage. As a result, BCN5 synthesis is induced by treatment with UV light or mitomycin C. UviA is related to a special class of sigma factors found to date only in Clostridium species and responsible for activating transcription of toxin genes in Clostridium difficile, Clostridium tetani, and Clostridium botulinum.
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