PHYLOGENETIC DISTRIBUTION OF THE GLOBAL REGULATORY GENE CSRA AMONG EUBACTERIA

The gene csrA encodes a unique kind of global regulator, CsrA, which m odulates glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, glycogen biosynthesis and glycog en catabolism in Escherichia coli. Southern hybridization and nucleoti de sequencing data have revealed apparent csrA homologs within several families of the alpha and gamma subdivisions of the proteobacteria (p urple bacteria) and in the Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis. Thus, the CsrA regulatory system appears widely distributed among euba cteria.