Biomaterial Database

The ars operon in the skin element of Bacillus subtilis confers resistance to arsenate and arsenite. 1998

T Sato, and Y Kobayashi

Department of Applied Biological Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Fuchu, Japan. subtilis@cc.tuat.ac.jp

The Bacillus subtilis skin element confers resistance to arsenate and arsenite. The ars operon in the skin element contains four genes in the order arsR, ORF2, arsB, and arsC. Three of these genes are homologous to the arsR, arsB, and arsC genes from the staphylococcal plasmid pI258, while no homologs of ORF2 have been found. Inactivation of arsR, arsB, or arsC results in either constitutive expression of ars, an arsenite- and arsenate-sensitive phenotype, or an arsenate-sensitive phenotype, respectively. These results suggest that ArsR, ArsB, and ArsC function as a negative regulator, a membrane-associated protein need for extrusion of arsenite, and arsenate reductase, respectively. Expression of the ars operon was induced by arsenate, arsenite, and antimonite. Northern hybridization and primer extension analysis showed that synthesis of a full-length ars transcript of about 2.4 kb was induced by arsenate and that the ars promoter contains sequences that resemble the -10 and -35 regions of promoters that are recognized by E sigmaA.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008969	Molecular Sequence Data	Descriptions of specific amino acid, carbohydrate, or nucleotide sequences which have appeared in the published literature and/or are deposited in and maintained by databanks such as GENBANK, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), National Biomedical Research Foundation (NBRF), or other sequence repositories.	Sequence Data, Molecular,Molecular Sequencing Data,Data, Molecular Sequence,Data, Molecular Sequencing,Sequencing Data, Molecular
D009097	Multienzyme Complexes	Systems of enzymes which function sequentially by catalyzing consecutive reactions linked by common metabolic intermediates. They may involve simply a transfer of water molecules or hydrogen atoms and may be associated with large supramolecular structures such as MITOCHONDRIA or RIBOSOMES.	Complexes, Multienzyme
D009154	Mutation	Any detectable and heritable change in the genetic material that causes a change in the GENOTYPE and which is transmitted to daughter cells and to succeeding generations.	Mutations
D009876	Operon	In bacteria, a group of metabolically related genes, with a common promoter, whose transcription into a single polycistronic MESSENGER RNA is under the control of an OPERATOR REGION.	Operons
D004352	Drug Resistance, Microbial	The ability of microorganisms, especially bacteria, to resist or to become tolerant to chemotherapeutic agents, antimicrobial agents, or antibiotics. This resistance may be acquired through gene mutation or foreign DNA in transmissible plasmids (R FACTORS).	Antibiotic Resistance,Antibiotic Resistance, Microbial,Antimicrobial Resistance, Drug,Antimicrobial Drug Resistance,Antimicrobial Drug Resistances,Antimicrobial Resistances, Drug,Drug Antimicrobial Resistance,Drug Antimicrobial Resistances,Drug Resistances, Microbial,Resistance, Antibiotic,Resistance, Drug Antimicrobial,Resistances, Drug Antimicrobial
D005798	Genes, Bacterial	The functional hereditary units of BACTERIA.	Bacterial Gene,Bacterial Genes,Gene, Bacterial
D000251	Adenosine Triphosphatases	A group of enzymes which catalyze the hydrolysis of ATP. The hydrolysis reaction is usually coupled with another function such as transporting Ca(2+) across a membrane. These enzymes may be dependent on Ca(2+), Mg(2+), anions, H+, or DNA.	ATPases,Adenosinetriphosphatase,ATPase,ATPase, DNA-Dependent,Adenosine Triphosphatase,DNA-Dependent ATPase,DNA-Dependent Adenosinetriphosphatases,ATPase, DNA Dependent,Adenosinetriphosphatases, DNA-Dependent,DNA Dependent ATPase,DNA Dependent Adenosinetriphosphatases,Triphosphatase, Adenosine
D000965	Antimony	A metallic element that has the atomic symbol Sb, atomic number 51, and atomic weight 121.75. It is used as a metal alloy and as medicinal and poisonous salts. It is toxic and an irritant to the skin and the mucous membranes.
D001149	Arsenates	Inorganic or organic salts and esters of arsenic acid.
D001412	Bacillus subtilis	A species of gram-positive bacteria that is a common soil and water saprophyte.	Natto Bacteria,Bacillus subtilis (natto),Bacillus subtilis subsp. natto,Bacillus subtilis var. natto