RT Journal Article SR Electronic(1) A1 Budnick, James A. A1 Prado-Sanchez, Evymarie A1 Caswell, Clayton C.YR 2018 T1 Defining the regulatory mechanism of NikR, a nickel-responsive transcriptional regulator, in Brucella abortus JF Microbiology, VO 164 IS 10 SP 1320 OP 1325 DO https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.000702 PB Microbiology Society, SN 1465-2080, AB Metals are essential micronutrients for virtually all forms of life, but metal acquisition is a double-edged sword, because high concentrations of divalent cations can be toxic to the cell. Therefore, the genes involved in metal acquisition, storage and efflux are tightly regulated. The present study characterizes a nickel-responsive transcriptional regulator in the intracellular mammalian pathogen, Brucella abortus. Deletion of bab2_0432 (nikR) in B. abortus led to alterations in the nickel-responsive expression of the genes encoding the putative nickel importer NikABCDE and, moreover, NikR binds directly to a specific DNA sequence within the promoter region of nikA in a metal-dependent manner to control gene expression. While NikR is involved in controlling the expression of nikA, nikR is not required for the infection of macrophages or mice by B. abortus. Overall, this work characterizes the role of NikR in nickel-responsive gene expression, as well as the dispensability of nikR for Brucella virulence., UL https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.000702