A putative leucine zipper activator of Pasteurella haemolytica leukotoxin transcription and the potential for modulation of its synthesis by slipped-strand mispairing.

A Pasteurella haemolytica cosmid clone that activates leukotoxin transcription in Escherichia coli has been isolated. The activator locus, alxA, is part of a continuous open reading frame that includes the type I hsdM methylase gene. AlxA and HsdM peptides are processed from a precursor, and translation of the polyprotein can be modulated by slipped-strand mispairing across a pentanucleotide repeat, ACAGC, within the 5' end of alxA-hsdM. Extracts containing AlxA can bind to a leukotoxin promoter fragment.