• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.63-68
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• 2000

GroEL is well known as a molecular chaperone. In order to determine the dynamic stress response of the Escherichia coli groE promoter, a groE-lacZ operon fusion in the chromosome was constructed. Stress leading to ${\sigma}^{32}$ synthesis induces transcription from E. coli groE promoter, since the promoter is ${\sigma}^{32}-regulated$. When the strain was stressed with ethanol, phenol, and sodium chloride, clear inductions of ${\beta}-galactosidase$ were observed. Two types of simultaneous stresses of sodium chloride and phenol induced the enze much more than either of the two alone, suggesting that stress was an additive. The combined stress resulted in the highest induction of the enzyme in this system. The groE-lacZ fusion strain developed in this study can conveniently be used to detect other harmful pollutants in the environment. Stress treatment of cells containing recombinant proteins, which need GroEl, by ethanol, phenol, or sodium chloride, might have a tendency to increase their biological activities.

• Journal of Microbiology
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.145-149
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• 2000

GroEL is a typical molecular chaperone. GroEL synthesis patterns at various culture temperatures in Escherichia coli were investigated in this study. No significant differences in the amount of GroEL produced from the chromosome were found at 30 and 37$^{\circ}C$. However, GroEL production increased 3.4-fold at 42$^{\circ}C$. GroEL synthesis was not transient but continuous at 42$^{\circ}C$, although most heat shock gene expression is known to be transient. To understand the role of the groEL structural gene, a groE promoter-lacZ fusion was constructed. Interestingly , while transcriptional fusion is not thermally inducible, it is inducible by ethanol, suggesting that the secondary structure of the groEL transcript is involved in thermal regulation of the groEL gene. Secondary structures of groE mRNA at 37 and 42$^{\circ}C$ were compared using the computer program RNAdraw. Distinct structures at the two temperatures were found, and these structures may be related to a high level of GroEL expression at 42$^{\circ}C$.