GcrA also activates genes required for polar development (including pleC and podJ, both of which Palbociclib order are also activated by DnaA [3, 4]). CtrA, in turn, regulates at least 95 genes in 55 operons: some are repressed (for example gcrA and podJ[4, 6]) whereas others are activated (such as the pilin subunit gene pilA, flagellum synthesis cascade initiation, and the holdfast anchor operon [7]). Additionally, CtrA binds to the chromosome at the origin of replication where it represses the initiation of DNA replication [8]. Furthermore, CtrA both activates and represses its own promoters. The ctrA gene has two promoters: P1 and P2 [9]. The weaker upstream P1 promoter is activated first. P1 activation

requires that the

promoter be in the hemi-methylated state, meaning that DNA replication has initiated and the replication fork has passed the P1 promoter. The P1 promoter is also directly activated by GcrA [4, 9, 10]. The low level of expression from the GcrA-activated ctrA P1 promoter allows some CtrA protein to accumulate. Once sufficient CtrA has accumulated, it represses the P1 promoter (as well as gcrA expression) and activates check details the strong downstream P2 promoter [9], leading to a burst of CtrA production and activity. The sequential activation of the master regulators forms the timeline by which developmental processes are regulated and coordinated. In particular, GcrA contributes to the Doxacurium chloride expression of the key developmental regulators, the histidine kinase PleC and the polar localization factor PodJ. Loss of either protein causes pleiotropic defects in development. A pleC mutant does not synthesize a stalk, holdfast or pili, and though the flagellum is made, flagellar rotation is not activated and the flagellum is not shed during the swarmer cell differentiation [11–13]. A podJ mutant, like pleC, does not synthesize holdfast or pili or shed its flagellum, but it does synthesize a stalk and activates its flagellum, however its motility is impaired in low-percentage agar as compared to wild type [6, 14, 15]. To further elucidate

the pathways that lead to these pleiotropic phenotypes a genetic approach was used. We conducted a transposon mutagenesis screen, selecting for resistance to phage ΦCbK, which requires pili for infection, and screening for defects in motility and adhesion, which require the flagellum and holdfast respectively. In this work we report the identification of a transposon insertion in the promoter region of ctrA that causes a drastic reduction of CtrA accumulation, resulting in pleiotropic phenotypes bearing similarities to the pleC and podJ phenotypes. Results and discussion A transposon mutation causes a pleiotropic phenotype C. crescentus wild-type strain CB15 was mutagenized with the mariner transposon and mutants resistant to the bacteriophage ΦCbK were isolated to enrich for mutants defective in pilus synthesis.