Identification of greA encoding a transcriptional elongation factor as a member of the carA-orf-carB-greA operon in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1

A homolog of the transcriptional elongation factor, GreA, was identified in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. The deduced amino acid sequence for GreA from this organism exhibits 65.2% identity to its counterpart in Escherichia coli K-12. The nucleotide sequence of greA from P. aeruginosa overlaps by four bases the 3' terminus of carB which encodes the large subunit of carbamoylphosphate synthetase. S1 nuclease experiments showed that level of the greA transcript is elevated approximately 10-fold under conditions of pyrimidine limitation, consistent with the conclusion that transcription is initiated from the previously identified pyrimidine-sensitive promoter upstream of the carA-orf-carB-greA operon. Transcriptional fusion experiments showed the presence of an additional weak promoter within the carB sequence. A greA insertional mutant of Pseudomonas aerugionsa was constructed by gene replacement. The mutant derivative grew well in rich medium but did not grow in minimal medium supplemented by arginine and nucleosides. The greA phenotype was suppressed by secondary mutations at a relatively high rate, consistent,vith the notion of an important physiological role for GreA.