GlnR-mediated regulation of nitrogen metabolism in the actinomycete Saccharopolyspora erythraea.

Nitrogen source sensing, uptake, and assimilation are central for growth and development of microorganisms which requires the participation of a global control of nitrogen metabolism-associated genes at the transcriptional level. In soil-dwelling antibiotic-producing actinomycetes, this role is played by GlnR, an OmpR family regulator. In this work, we demonstrate that SACE_7101 is the ortholog of actinomycetes' GlnR global regulators in the erythromycin producer Saccharopolyspora erythraea. Indeed, the chromosomal deletion of SACE_7101 severely affects the viability of S. erythraea when inoculated in minimal media supplemented with NaNO3, NaNO2, NH4Cl, glutamine, or glutamate as sole nitrogen source. Combination of in silico prediction of cis-acting elements, subsequent in vitro (through gel shift assays) and in vivo (real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) validations of the predicted target genes revealed a very large GlnR regulon aimed at adapting the nitrogen metabolism of S. erythraea. Indeed, enzymes/proteins involved in (i) uptake and assimilation of ammonium, (ii) transport and utilization of urea, (iii) nitrite/nitrate, (iv) glutamate/glutamine, (v) arginine metabolism, (vi) nitric oxide biosynthesis, and (vii) signal transduction associated with the nitrogen source supplied have at least one paralog gene which expression is controlled by GlnR. Our work highlights a GlnR-binding site consensus sequence (t/gna/cAC-n6-GaAAc) which is similar although not identical to the consensus sequences proposed for other actinomycetes. Finally, we discuss the distinct and common features of the GlnR-mediated transcriptional control of nitrogen metabolism between S. erythraea and the model organism Streptomyces coelicolor.