Regulation of the Metalloprotease VvpE Production by Cyclic AMP-receptor Protein in Vibrio vulnificus

In Vibrio vulnificus, the production of a metalloprotease VvpE is known to be positively regulated by cyclic AMPreceptor protein (CRP), a well-known global regulator. Recently, we found that both 35 and 45 kDa-VvpE, the authentic products of vvpE, are produced within bacterial cells and secreted with the 35 kDa-VvpE being the major secreted form, b니t the related mechanism remains unknown. In this study, we attempted to determine whether the production profile of VvpE can be affected by the change of CRP. In /acZ-fused transcription reporter assays, crp transcription was increased with V. vulnificus growth and was contemporary with vvpE transcription. The production of VvpE was decreased and delayed along with the down-regulation of vvpE transcription by a null mutation of crp, and recovered by an in trans complementation of crp. However, the production profile of VvpE was not affected by the crp mutation or complementation. These results indicate that CRP controls VvpE production by regulating only vvpE transcription, not affecting the production profile of VvpE.