A segment of Myxococcus xanthus ops DNA functions as an upstream activation site for tps gene transcription.

A segment of DNA located between 131 and 311 base pairs (bp) upstream from the transcriptional start of the Myxococcus xanthus ops gene (-131 to -311) was shown to function as an upstream activation site (UAS) for developmentally regulated transcription from the tps gene promoter region. The activation of early developmental transcription by the ops UAS was independent of orientation and could be increased by the addition of a second copy of the UAS. The ops UAS segment continued to function when placed 1.5 kbp upstream from the transcription initiation site. DNA from the tps promoter region was required for transcriptional activation by the ops UAS, and a specific requirement for the sequence of tps DNA between -34 and -66 was demonstrated. Several specific ops UAS DNA-protein complexes were observed after incubation of this DNA segment with an extract of early developmental M. xanthus cells. Extracts of vegetative cells contained much less ops UAS-specific DNA-binding activity. When the distance between the tps and ops genes was increased from 2 to 15 kbp by insertion of a transduced segment of DNA, the amount of developmentally induced tps RNA was found to be about one-third that found in wild-type M. xanthus. Our observations suggest that the regulatory region of the ops gene functions not only to control ops gene expression but also to increase early developmental expression of the tps gene located about 2 kbp downstream on the M. xanthus chromosome.