CROSS-TALK TO THE GENES FOR BACILLUS-ANTHRACIS CAPSULE SYNTHESIS BY ATXA, THE GENE ENCODING THE TRANSACTIVATOR OF ANTHRAX TOXIN SYNTHESIS

The two major virulence factors of Bacillus anthracis are the triparti te toxin and the polyglutamate capsule, which are encoded by genes on the large plasmids, pXO1 and pXO2, respectively. The genes atxA, locat ed on pXO1 and acpA, located on pXO2, encode positive trans-acting pro teins that are involved in bicarbonate-mediated regulation of toxin an d capsule production, respectively. A derivative strain cured of pXO1 produced less capsular substance than the parent strain harbouring bot h pXO1 and pXO2, and electroporation of the strain cured of pXO1 with a plasmid containing the cloned atxA gene resulted in an increased lev el of capsule production. An acpA-null mutant was complemented by not only acpA but also the atxA gene. The cap region, which is essential f or encapsulation, contains three genes capB, capC, and capA, arranged in that order. The atxA gene stimulated capsule synthesis from the clo ned cap region. Transcriptional analysis of cap by RNA slot-blot hybri dization and primer-extension analysis revealed that atxA activated ex pression of cap in trans at the transcriptional level. These results i ndicate that cross-talk occurs, in which the pXO1-located gene, atxA, activates transcription of the cap region genes located on pXO2. We id entified two major apparent transcriptional start sites, designated P1 and P2, located at positions 731 bp and 625 bp, respectively, upstrea m of the translation-initiation codon of caps. Transcription initiated from p1 and P2 was activated by both atxA and acpA, and activation ap peared to be stimulated by bicarbonate. Deletion analysis of the upstr eam region of the cap promoter revealed that activation by both atxA a nd acpA required a DNA segment of 70 bp extending upstream of the P1 s ite. These results suggest that cross-talk by atxA to the genes encodi ng capsule synthesis is caused by the interaction of the atxA gene pro duct with a regulatory sequence upstream of cap.