Ecf, an alternative sigma factor from Neisseria gonorrhoeae, controls expression of msrAB, which encodes methionine sulfoxide reductase.

A DNA microarray was used to identify genes transcribed in Neisseria gonorrhoeae using Ecf, an alternative sigma factor. No differences between the transcriptional profiles of strain FA1090 and a mutant where ecf had been inactivated could be detected when both were grown in vitro. We therefore constructed a gonococcal strain in which Ecf can be overexpressed. Some differentially expressed genes are clustered with ecf on the genome and appear to form a single transcriptional unit. Expression of the gene encoding MsrAB, which possesses methionine sulfoxide reductase activity, was also dependent on Ecf, suggesting that the regulon responds to oxidative damage. Western blotting confirmed that the increased level of MsrAB protein is dependent on the presence of Ecf.