CtsR is the master regulator of stress response gene expression in Oenococcus oeni.

ABSTRACT Although many stress response genes have been characterized in Oenococcus oeni , little is known about the regulation of stress response in this malolactic bacterium. The expression of eubacterial stress genes is controlled both positively and negatively at the transcriptional level. Overall, negative regulation of heat shock genes appears to be more widespread among gram-positive bacteria. We recently identified an ortholog of the ctsR gene in O. oeni . In Bacillus subtilis , CtsR negatively regulates expression of the clp genes, which belong to the class III family of heat shock genes. The ctsR gene of O. oeni is cotranscribed with the downstream clpC gene. Sequence analysis of t…