In vivo characterization of tus gene expression in Escherichia coli.

The tus gene encodes a DNA-binding protein (Tus) that inhibits replication forks at specific block-sites within the terminus region of the Escherichia coli chromosome. One of these block-sites, TerB, is adjacent to the tus gene. Using primer extension and a promoter fusion to characterize in vivo expression, we have demonstrated that the tus transcription start site is within TerB, and that Tus protein autoregulates expression at this weak promoter. We have also demonstrated that a minority of tus transcripts are initiated from an upstream region that contains two additional open reading frames. This readthrough transcription into tus is reduced in the presence of Tus protein.