Disease relevance of traE1

• Sex pheromone plasmid pAD1-encoded aggregation substance of Enterococcus faecalis is positively regulated in trans by traE1 [1].

High impact information on traE1

• The response involves two plasmid-borne regulatory determinants: traE1, whose product positively regulates all or most conjugation-related structural genes; and traA, whose product negatively regulates traE1 by controlling transcriptional readthrough of an upstream termination site (TTS1/TTS2) [2].
• The present report provides direct analyses of relevant RNA species before and during induction and shows that indeed transcriptional read-through from iad is important in the initial expression of traE1 [3].
• An open reading frame designated traE1 was identified; its inferred protein consists of 118 amino acids [4].
• Insertional mutagenesis of traE1 resulted in a complete loss in plasmid transfer capability [4].
• We were able to demonstrate that a small open reading frame, traE1, is sufficient for transcription of the operon containing asa1 [1].

References