Identification of a fatty acyl responsive regulator (FarR) in Escherichia coli

FarR (formerly P30) has been identified as a fatty acid and fatty acyl-CoA responsive DNA-binding protein. It is encoded by the farR gene (g30) in the citric acid cycle gene cluster of E. coli (gltA-sdhCDAB-sucABCD-farR). The amplified FarR protein specifically bound to the farR promoter (PfarR) and exhibited weak binding to the citrate synthase and lipoamide dehydrogenase promoters. Binding at PfarR was abolished by long-chain fatty acids and their CoA thioesters. In DNaseI footprints, FarR binding at PfarR protected two sites, each characterised by two related 10-bp direct repeats. It is suggested that FarR autoregulates farR expression and may modulate citric acid cycle expression in response to long-chain fatty acids.