<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><xml><records><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Juárez, Katy</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Kim, Byoung-Chan</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Nevin, Kelly</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Olvera, Leticia</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Reguera, Gemma</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Lovley, Derek R</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Methé, Barbara A</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">PilR, a transcriptional regulator for pilin and other genes required for Fe(III) reduction in Geobacter sulfurreducens.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">J Mol Microbiol Biotechnol</style></secondary-title><alt-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">J. Mol. Microbiol. Biotechnol.</style></alt-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Bacterial Proteins</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Ferric Compounds</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Fimbriae Proteins</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Genes, Regulator</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Geobacter</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Oxidation-Reduction</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Transcription, Genetic</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2009</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2009</style></date></pub-dates></dates><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">16</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">146-58</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Growth using Fe(III) as a terminal electron acceptor is a critical physiological process in Geobacter sulfurreducens. However, the mechanisms of electron transfer during Fe(III) reduction are only now being understood. It has been demonstrated that the pili in G. sulfurreducens function as microbial nanowires conducting electrons onto Fe(III) oxides. A number of c-type cytochromes have also been shown to play important roles in Fe(III) reduction. However, the regulatory networks controlling the expression of the genes involved in such processes are not well known. Here we report that the expression of pilA, which encodes the pilistructural protein, is directly regulated by a two-component regulatory system in which PilR functions as an RpoN-dependent enhancer binding protein. Surprisingly, a deletion of the pilR gene affected not only insoluble Fe(III) reduction, which requires pili, but also soluble Fe(III) reduction, which, in contrast, does not require pili. Gene expression profiling using whole-genome DNA microarray and quantitative RT-PCR analyses obtained with a PilR-deficient mutant revealed that the expression of pilA and other pilin-related genes are downregulated, while many c-type cytochromes involved in Fe(III) reduction were differentially regulated. This is the first instance of an enhancer binding protein implicated in regulating genes involved in Fe(III) respiratory functions.</style></abstract><issue><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">3-4</style></issue><custom1><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18253022?dopt=Abstract</style></custom1></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Krushkal, Julia</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Yan, Bin</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">DiDonato, Laurie N</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Puljic, Marko</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Nevin, Kelly P</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Woodard, Trevor L</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Adkins, Ronald M</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Methé, Barbara A</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Lovley, Derek R</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Genome-wide expression profiling in Geobacter sulfurreducens: identification of Fur and RpoS transcription regulatory sites in a relGsu mutant.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Funct Integr Genomics</style></secondary-title><alt-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Funct. Integr. Genomics</style></alt-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Bacterial Proteins</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Base Sequence</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Gene Deletion</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Gene Expression Profiling</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Genes, Bacterial</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Genome, Bacterial</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Geobacter</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Ligases</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Mutation</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Operon</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Promoter Regions, Genetic</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Regulatory Sequences, Nucleic Acid</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Repressor Proteins</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Sigma Factor</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Transcription, Genetic</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2007</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2007 Jul</style></date></pub-dates></dates><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">7</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">229-55</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Rel(Gsu) is the single Geobacter sulfurreducens homolog of RelA and SpoT proteins found in many organisms. These proteins are involved in the regulation of levels of guanosine 3', 5' bispyrophosphate, ppGpp, a molecule that signals slow growth and stress response under nutrient limitation in bacteria. We used information obtained from genome-wide expression profiling of the rel(Gsu) deletion mutant to identify putative regulatory sites involved in transcription networks modulated by Rel(Gsu) or ppGpp. Differential gene expression in the rel(Gsu) deletion mutant, as compared to the wild type, was available from two growth conditions, steady state chemostat cultures and stationary phase batch cultures. Hierarchical clustering analysis of these two datasets identified several groups of operons that are likely co-regulated. Using a search for conserved motifs in the upstream regions of these co-regulated operons, we identified sequences similar to Fur- and RpoS-regulated sites. These findings suggest that Fur- and RpoS-dependent gene expression in G. sulfurreducens is affected by Rel(Gsu)-mediated signaling.</style></abstract><issue><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">3</style></issue><custom1><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17406915?dopt=Abstract</style></custom1></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Coppi, Maddalena V</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">O'Neil, Regina A</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Leang, Ching</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Kaufmann, Franz</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Methé, Barbara A</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Nevin, Kelly P</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Woodard, Trevor L</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Liu, Anna</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Lovley, Derek R</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Involvement of Geobacter sulfurreducens SfrAB in acetate metabolism rather than intracellular, respiration-linked Fe(III) citrate reduction.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Microbiology</style></secondary-title><alt-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Microbiology (Reading, Engl.)</style></alt-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Acetates</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Amino Acid Transport Systems</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Bacterial Proteins</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Cell Membrane</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Citric Acid Cycle</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Cytoplasm</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Energy Metabolism</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Ferric Compounds</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Formic Acids</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Fumarates</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Gene Deletion</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Gene Expression Profiling</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Geobacter</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Hydrogen</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">NADH, NADPH Oxidoreductases</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2007</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2007 Oct</style></date></pub-dates></dates><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">153</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">3572-85</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">A soluble ferric reductase, SfrAB, which catalysed the NADPH-dependent reduction of chelated Fe(III), was previously purified from the dissimilatory Fe(III)-reducing micro-organism Geobacter sulfurreducens, suggesting that reduction of chelated forms of Fe(III) might be cytoplasmic. However, metabolically active spheroplast suspensions could not catalyse acetate-dependent Fe(III) citrate reduction, indicating that periplasmic and/or outer-membrane components were required for Fe(III) citrate reduction. Furthermore, phenotypic analysis of an SfrAB knockout mutant suggested that SfrAB was involved in acetate metabolism rather than respiration-linked Fe(III) reduction. The mutant could not grow via the reduction of either Fe(III) citrate or fumarate when acetate was the electron donor but could grow with either acceptor if either hydrogen or formate served as the electron donor. Following prolonged incubation in acetate : fumarate medium in the absence of hydrogen and formate, an 'acetate-adapted' SfrAB-null strain was isolated that was capable of growth on acetate : fumarate medium but not acetate : Fe(III) citrate medium. Comparison of gene expression in this strain with that of the wild-type revealed upregulation of a potential NADPH-dependent ferredoxin oxidoreductase as well as genes involved in energy generation and amino acid uptake, suggesting that NADPH homeostasis and the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle were perturbed in the 'acetate-adapted' SfrAB-null strain. Membrane and soluble fractions prepared from the 'acetate-adapted' strain were depleted of NADPH-dependent Fe(III), viologen and quinone reductase activities. These results indicate that cytoplasmic, respiration-linked reduction of Fe(III) by SfrAB in vivo is unlikely and suggest that deleting SfrAB may interfere with growth via acetate oxidation by interfering with NADP regeneration.</style></abstract><issue><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Pt 10</style></issue><custom1><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17906154?dopt=Abstract</style></custom1></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Yan, Bin</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Núñez, Cinthia</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Ueki, Toshiyuki</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Esteve-Núñez, Abraham</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Puljic, Marko</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Adkins, Ronald M</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Methé, Barbara A</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Lovley, Derek R</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Krushkal, Julia</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Computational prediction of RpoS and RpoD regulatory sites in Geobacter sulfurreducens using sequence and gene expression information.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Gene</style></secondary-title><alt-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Gene</style></alt-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Amino Acid Sequence</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Bacterial Proteins</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Base Sequence</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Citrates</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Computational Biology</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Conserved Sequence</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Escherichia coli</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Escherichia coli Proteins</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Gene Deletion</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Gene Expression Profiling</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Genes, Bacterial</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Genome, Bacterial</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Geobacter</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Molecular Sequence Data</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Operon</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Promoter Regions, Genetic</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Sigma Factor</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Transcription, Genetic</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2006</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2006 Dec 15</style></date></pub-dates></dates><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">384</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">73-95</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">RpoS, the sigma S subunit of RNA polymerase, is vital during the growth and survival of Geobacter sulfurreducens under conditions typically encountered in its native subsurface environments. We investigated the conservation of sites that may be important for RpoS function in G. sulfurreducens. We also employed sequence information and expression microarray data to predict G. sulfurreducens genome sites that may be related to RpoS regulation. Hierarchical clustering identified three clusters of significantly downregulated genes in the rpoS deletion mutant. The search for conserved overrepresented motifs in co-regulated operons identified likely -35 and -10 promoter elements upstream of a number of functionally important G. sulfurreducens operons that were downregulated in the rpoS deletion mutant. Putative -35/-10 promoter elements were also identified in the G. sulfurreducens genome using sequence similarity searches to matrices of -35/-10 promoter elements found in G. sulfurreducens and in Escherichia coli. Due to a sufficient degree of sequence similarity between -35/-10 promoter elements for RpoS, RpoD, and other sigma factors, both the sequence similarity searches and the search for conserved overrepresented motifs using microarray data may identify promoter elements for both RpoS and other sigma factors.</style></abstract><custom1><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17014972?dopt=Abstract</style></custom1></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Núñez, Cinthia</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Esteve-Núñez, Abraham</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Giometti, Carol</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Tollaksen, Sandra</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Khare, Tripti</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Lin, Winston</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Lovley, Derek R</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Methé, Barbara A</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">DNA microarray and proteomic analyses of the RpoS regulon in Geobacter sulfurreducens.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">J Bacteriol</style></secondary-title><alt-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">J. Bacteriol.</style></alt-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Adaptation, Physiological</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Amino Acids</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Bacterial Proteins</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Biological Transport</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Citric Acid Cycle</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Cytochromes</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Gene Deletion</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Geobacter</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Mass Spectrometry</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Mutagenesis, Insertional</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Oxidative Stress</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Protein Biosynthesis</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Proteome</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Regulon</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Sigma Factor</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Signal Transduction</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2006</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2006 Apr</style></date></pub-dates></dates><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">188</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2792-800</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">The regulon of the sigma factor RpoS was defined in Geobacter sulfurreducens by using a combination of DNA microarray expression profiles and proteomics. An rpoS mutant was examined under steady-state conditions with acetate as an electron donor and fumarate as an electron acceptor and with additional transcriptional profiling using Fe(III) as an electron acceptor. Expression analysis revealed that RpoS acts as both a positive and negative regulator. Many of the RpoS-dependent genes determined play roles in energy metabolism, including the tricarboxylic acid cycle, signal transduction, transport, protein synthesis and degradation, and amino acid metabolism and transport. As expected, RpoS activated genes involved in oxidative stress resistance and adaptation to nutrient limitation. Transcription of the cytochrome c oxidase operon, necessary for G. sulfurreducens growth using oxygen as an electron acceptor, and expression of at least 13 c-type cytochromes, including one previously shown to participate in Fe(III) reduction (MacA), were RpoS dependent. Analysis of a subset of the rpoS mutant proteome indicated that 15 major protein species showed reproducible differences in abundance relative to those of the wild-type strain. Protein identification using mass spectrometry indicated that the expression of seven of these proteins correlated with the microarray data. Collectively, these results indicate that RpoS exerts global effects on G. sulfurreducens physiology and that RpoS is vital to G. sulfurreducens survival under conditions typically encountered in its native subsurface environments.</style></abstract><issue><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">8</style></issue><custom1><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16585740?dopt=Abstract</style></custom1></record><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">DiDonato, Laurie N</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Sullivan, Sara A</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Methé, Barbara A</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Nevin, Kelly P</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">England, Reg</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Lovley, Derek R</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Role of RelGsu in stress response and Fe(III) reduction in Geobacter sulfurreducens.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">J Bacteriol</style></secondary-title><alt-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">J. Bacteriol.</style></alt-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Bacterial Proteins</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Culture Media</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Ferric Compounds</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Geobacter</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Guanosine Tetraphosphate</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Heat-Shock Response</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Ligases</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Mutation</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Oxidation-Reduction</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Sulfur</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2006</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2006 Dec</style></date></pub-dates></dates><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">188</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">8469-78</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Geobacter species are key members of the microbial community in many subsurface environments in which dissimilatory metal reduction is an important process. The genome of Geobacter sulfurreducens contains a gene designated rel(Gsu), which encodes a RelA homolog predicted to catalyze both the synthesis and the degradation of guanosine 3',5'-bispyrophosphate (ppGpp), a regulatory molecule that signals slow growth in response to nutrient limitation in bacteria. To evaluate the physiological role of Rel(Gsu) in G. sulfurreducens, a rel(Gsu) mutant was constructed and characterized, and ppGpp levels were monitored under various conditions in both the wild-type and rel(Gsu) mutant strains. In the wild-type strain, ppGpp and ppGp were produced in response to acetate and nitrogen deprivation, whereas exposure to oxygen resulted in an accumulation of ppGpp alone. Neither ppGpp nor ppGp could be detected in the rel(Gsu) mutant. The rel(Gsu) mutant consistently grew to a higher cell density than the wild type in acetate-fumarate medium and was less tolerant of oxidative stress than the wild type. The capacity for Fe(III) reduction was substantially diminished in the mutant. Microarray and quantitative reverse transcription-PCR analyses indicated that during stationary-phase growth, protein synthesis genes were up-regulated in the rel(Gsu) mutant and genes involved in stress responses and electron transport, including several implicated in Fe(III) reduction, were down-regulated in the mutant. The results are consistent with a role for Rel(Gsu) in regulating growth, stress responses, and Fe(III) reduction in G. sulfurreducens under conditions likely to be prevalent in subsurface environments.</style></abstract><issue><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">24</style></issue><custom1><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17041036?dopt=Abstract</style></custom1></record></records></xml>