CHARACTERIZATION OF 2 GROEL GENES IN STREPTOMYCES-COELICOLOR-A3(2)

Two Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) groEL-like genes, groEL1 and groEL2, were cloned and characterized. Pulsed-field-gel electrophoresis located these genes, which were not adjacent, in the same segment of the chromosome. Nucleotide sequence analysis revealed that groEL1, but not groEL2, was preceded by a groES-like gene. Northern blots showed that heat shock induced the accumulation of transcripts corresponding to groES (0.7 kb), groES/EL1 (2.3 kb) and groEL2 (2.1 kb). Unique transcription start points and promoters were located for groES/EL1 and groEL2, having -10 and -35 hexamers similar to eubacterial vegetative promoters. Regions located 5' to the groES/EL1 or groEL2 structural genes contain 'GCACTCN(9)GAGTGC' motifs conserved upstream from the heat-shock genes of other bacteria.