Gaucher mutation N188S is associated with myoclonic epilepsy.

The recent article by Montfort et al. [2004] reported a functional analysis of 13 glucocerebrosidase alleles, including mutation N188S, which they considered to be a "very mild mutation" or "modifier variant." Our clinical experience with patients carrying this mutation and preliminary protein modeling data lead us to dispute this conclusion.

A coding segment of the virulence regulatory gene spvR enhances expression of spvR-lacZ and spvR-gfp translational fusions in Salmonella typhimurium.

The Salmonella gene spvR is regulated by RpoS, and encodes an autoregulatory DNA-binding protein of the LysR family, which is required for transcriptional activation of the virulence operon spvABCD. We found that the 12-bp sequence between codons 3 and 8 of spvR (12bp-box) increased the expression of spvR'-lacZ translational fusions by at least two orders of magnitude. The 12bp-box did not affect the level of expression of a transcriptional spvR'-lacZ fusion, as determined by measurement of beta-galactosidase activity and mRNA levels.

Relationships between H-NS, sigma S, SpvR and growth phase in the control of spvR, the regulatory gene of the Salmonella plasmid virulence operon.

The sigma S-regulated gene spvR of Salmonella typhimurium encodes an autoregulatory protein required for transcriptional activation of the virulence operon spvABCD. A mutation in the histone-like protein H-NS, which negatively controls the sigma S level, has been reported to increase spv gene expression in S. typhimurium strain LT2.

Identification of cis-acting DNA sequences involved in the transcription of the virulence regulatory gene spvR in Salmonella typhimurium.

The SpvR protein is a DNA-binding protein of the LysR family, required for the transcription of the spvABCD virulence operon of Salmonella typhimurium. An alternative sigma factor, sigma S (RpoS), in conjunction with SpvR, controls the transcription of the spvR gene. In this study, we used a combination of primer extension experiments and deletion/fusion analyses of the spvR gene to identify sequences involved in spvR transcription in S.

The Salmonella typhimurium katF (rpoS) gene: cloning, nucleotide sequence, and regulation of spvR and spvABCD virulence plasmid genes.

The spv region of Salmonella virulence plasmids is essential for the development of a systemic infection in mice. Transcriptional activation of the spvABCD operon occurs during stationary growth phase and is mediated by the regulatory gene product SpvR. We have previously shown that expression of a spvRAB'-cat fusion in Escherichia coli was dependent on the katF (rpoS) locus which encodes an alternative sigma factor (sigma S).