Contribution of individual promoters in the ddlB–ftsZ region to the transcription of the essential cell‐division gene ftsZ in Escherichia coli

Abstract

The essential cell-division gene ftsZ is transcribed in Escherichia coli from at least six promoters found within the coding regions of the upstream ddlB, ftsQ, and ftsA genes. The contribution of each one to the final yield of ftsZ transcription has been estimated using transcriptional lacZ fusions. The most proximal promoter, ftsZ2p, contributes less than 5% of the total transcription from the region that reaches ftsZ. The ftsZ4p and ftsZ3p promoters, both located inside ftsA, produce almost 37% of the transcription. An ftsAp promoter within the ftsQ gene yields nearly 12% of total transcription from the region. A large proportion of transcription (approximately 46%) derives from promoters ftsQ2p and ftsQ1p, which are located inside the upstream ddlB gene. Thus, the ftsQAZ genes are to a large extent transcribed as a polycistronic mRNA. However, we find that the ftsZ proximal region is necessary for full expression, which is in agreement with a recent report that mRNA cleavage by RNase E at the end of the ftsA cistron has a significant role in the contol of ftsZ expression.