Transcription of the celE gene in Thermomonospora fusca

The steady-state level of celE mRNA (coding for cellulase E5) in Thermomonospora fusca YX was measured by Northern (RNA blot) hybridization under conditions causing induction or repression of cellulase synthesis. A good correlation was found between the mRNA level and the level of cellulase E5, suggesting that the T. fusca celE gene is regulated at the level of mRNA and, most likely, at the level of transcription. The 5' and 3' ends of the celE gene transcription unit were determined by S1 mapping with single-stranded DNA probes. These results showed that there were three species of celE mRNA in T. fusca YX with closely spaced 5' ends and identical 3' ends. The size of each mRNA was about 1.5 kilobases, from both the Northern and S1 data. This size is only slightly longer than that required to code for the 45-kilodalton E5 protein. In Escherichia coli D318 (celE), the 5' ends of the celE mRNAs are identical to those in T. fusca, but the 3' ends are located ca. 300 base pairs upstream of the T. fusca 3' end. The region where the putative celE promoters were located had some interesting features, including a 60-base-pair A + T-rich sequence and sequences resembling sigma 60 promoters.