A 53-base-pair inverted repeat negatively regulates expression of the adjacent and divergently oriented cytochrome P450(BM-1) gene and its regulatory gene, bm1P1, in Bacillus megaterium.

To study the role of the cis-acting element(s) in controlling the expression of the cytochrome P450(BM-1) gene and its upstream regulatory gene, bm1P1, in Bacillus megaterium, various deletion derivatives were constructed. A 53-bp inverted repeat located midway between the P450(BM-1) gene and bm1P1 gene was found in vivo to negatively regulate the expression of both genes, the regulation of which may occur at the transcriptional level. The promoter of the P450(BM-1), gene was also identified and found to be similar to those recognized by the sigmaA RNA polymerase of Bacillus subtilis. Possible mechanisms by which the 53-bp inverted repeat regulates the gene expression are discussed.