We also measured the whcA mRNA levels during growth. In log phase cells, the amount of whcA mRNA was almost comparable to that of spiA mRNA (Fig. 2a), suggesting that the proteins are probably made at equivalent molar ratios. Park et al. (2011) postulated that the WhcA protein forms a complex with the SpiA selleck protein and the SpiA–WhcA protein complex binds to its target promoters to repress genes when oxidative stress is absent, such as during the log growth phase. Our data clearly provide experimental evidence for this model. Park et al. (2011) also postulated that, in the stationary phase, the SpiA–WhcA protein complex is broken and the free

WhcA protein loses its ability to bind to its target promoters, leading to the expression of oxidative stress responsive genes. Our data also show coordinated transcriptional control of the spiA and whcA genes, whose expressions were diminished when the proteins were not needed (Fig. 2b). The whcA gene is known to be involved in the regulation of a series of genes including the thioredoxin reductase gene, which is a key member of the oxidative response system. As shown above, if whcA and TGF-beta inhibitor spiA genes function in repressing oxidative stress response genes, one can assume that the genes controlled by whcA should also be under the control of spiA. To test this hypothesis, we monitored the expression of genes that had previously been

shown to be under the control by whcA. As shown in Fig. 3a, ORFs NCgl0663 and NCgl2984, which are assumed to be the trx genes encoding thioredoxin reductases in C. glutamicum, were preferentially expressed in stationary phase cells. As was observed with P180-whcA cells (Choi et al., 2009), the expression of trx genes was either almost disappeared (NCgl0663) or significantly decreased (NCgl2984) in the P180-spiA cells. However, unlike the ∆whcA mutant, which showed derepressed expression of thioredoxin reductase,

partial repression of the trx gene was observed in the ∆spiA mutant strain. In our previous report, we showed that the whcA gene regulates the Bay 11-7085 expression of several genes, including NCgl0328 (NADH oxidase), NCgl1022 (cysteine desulfurase), NCgl2053 (alcohol dehydrogenase), and NCgl2971 (quinone reductase) (Choi et al., 2009). We also analyzed the expression of genes in the spiA mutant strains. As shown in Fig. 3b, the genes were almost completely repressed in the P180-spiA strain. As was observed with the trx genes, the expression of the genes was also decreased in the ∆spiA strain. It is evident from our previous data (Park et al., 2011) that the availability of the SpiA protein is important for regulating WhcA activity. To obtain a better understanding of the mechanism of WhcA regulation by SpiA, we performed several genetic and physiological analyses. As shown in Fig. 4, cells overexpressing the spiA (or whcA) gene show slow growth.