Related Experiment Video
Updated: Mar 19, 2026

Measurement of Specific Mycobacterial Mistranslation Rates with Gain-of-function Reporter Systems
Published on: April 26, 2019
DevS/DosS sensor is bifunctional and its phosphatase activity precludes aerobic DevR/DosR regulon expression in
Kohinoor Kaur1, Priyanka Kumari1, Saurabh Sharma1
1Department of Biotechnology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis DevS is a bifunctional sensor that regulates the DevR dormancy regulon. Its kinase activity is activated by hypoxia, while its phosphatase activity prevents gene expression under aerobic conditions, controlling bacterial dormancy.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Bacterial Physiology
- Molecular Biology
Background:
- Two-component systems enable bacteria to adapt to environmental changes.
- The DevR-DevS/DosR-DosS system in Mycobacterium tuberculosis controls dormancy.
- DevS kinase activity is induced by hypoxia, activating the DevR regulon.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the bifunctional nature of the DevS sensor.
- To elucidate the role of conserved residues in DevS kinase and phosphatase activities.
- To understand the regulatory mechanism of the DevR dormancy regulon.
Main Methods:
- Site-specific mutagenesis of conserved residues in DevS.
- In vitro kinase and phosphatase assays.
- Novel in vivo phosphatase assay in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
Main Results:
- DevS exhibits robust phosphatase activity toward DevR, in addition to its known kinase activity.
- Conserved residues in DevS are critical for both kinase and phosphatase functions.
- DevS phosphatase activity effectively blocks DevR dormancy regulon expression under aerobic conditions.
Conclusions:
- DevS acts as a bifunctional regulator, balancing kinase and phosphatase activities.
- Phosphatase activity of DevS is essential for preventing aerobic expression of the dormancy regulon.
- This dual function allows precise calibration of the bacterial dormancy response to environmental cues.
More Related Videos
07:42Fluorescence Assays for the Study of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Interaction with the Immune Receptor SLAMF1
Published on: February 28, 2025
15:28A Microscopic Phenotypic Assay for the Quantification of Intracellular Mycobacteria Adapted for High-throughput/High-content Screening
Published on: January 17, 2014
Related Concept Videos
Regulation of Bacterial Virulence
Transcriptional Regulation: Riboswitches
Gene Regulation in Microbial Communities: Quorum Sensing
Prokaryotic Transcriptional Activators and Repressors
Transcription of prokaryotic...
Riboswitches
The aptamer has high specificity for a particular metabolite which allows riboswitches to specifically regulate...
Other Stress Responses in Bacteria