The small protein SCO2038 controls Streptomyces coelicolor differentiation by modulating tryptophan biosynthesis

Background In Streptomyces coelicolor amino acid metabolism is an important clue of the morphological and physiological differentiation program and, differently from other bacteria, the expression of amino acid biosynthetic genes is not subjected to endproduct negative regulation. In some amino acid biosynthetic gene clusters, such as tryptophan, histidine and proline, small orfs (about 100-300 nucleotides) were identified. These small orfs, such as sco2038, encode proteins whose cellular role have to be elucidated to highlight possible novel and crucial molecular mechanisms controlling amino acid synthesis and, thus, differentiation program. Objectives The aims of this work are: 1. the und…

trpX: a small orf involved in S. coelicolor tryptophan metabolism