Novel effect of aromatic compounds on the iron-dependent expression of the Escherichia coli K12 manganese superoxide dismutase (sodA) gene.

In Escherichia coli, the superoxide dismutase genes (sodA and sodB) sense the availability of Fe through the action of the fur locus [E. C. Niederhoffer, C. M. Naranjo, K. L. Bradley, J. A. Fee (1990) Control of Escherichia coli superoxide dismutases (sodA and sodB) genes by the ferric uptake regulation (fur) locus, J. Bacteriol. 172, 1930-1938]. Previous work from other laboratories has shown that a variety of metal chelators and of redox-active aromatic compounds can dramatically induce expression of sodA. Here we show that non-redox-active, non-metal-chelating aromatic compounds also enhance expression of a chromosomal sodA gene fusion and that these effects are strongly modulated by the Fur phenotype (Fur +/-) and by the availability of iron in the culture medium. The compounds studied were ethidium bromide, hemin, 2,2'-bipyridine, 1,10-phenantroline, 4,7-phenantroline, rhodamine B1, rhodamine 6G, and, for comparison to previous studies, Paraquat.