MobC of conjugative RA3 plasmid from IncU group autoregulates the expression of bicistronic mobC-nic operon and stimulates conjugative transfer

BACKGROUND: The IncU conjugative transfer module represents highly efficient promiscuous system widespread among conjugative plasmids of different incompatibility groups. Despite its frequent occurrence the mechanisms of relaxosome formation/action are far from understood. Here we analyzed the putative transfer auxiliary protein MobC of the conjugative plasmid RA3 from the IncU incompatibility group. RESULTS: MobC is a protein of 176 amino acids encoded in the bicistronic operon mobC-nic adjacent to oriT. MobC is homologous to prokaryotic transcription factors of the ribbon-helix-helix (RHH) superfamily. Conserved LxxugxNlNQiaxxLn motif clusters MobC with the clade of conjugative transfer auxilliary proteins of Mob(P) relaxases. MobC forms dimers in solution and autoregulates the expression of mobCp by binding to an imperfect palindromic sequence (O(M)) located between putative -35 and -10 motifs of the promoter. Medium-copy number test plasmid containing the oriT-mobCp region is mobilized with a high frequency by the RA3 conjugative system. The mutations introduced into O(M) that abolished MobC binding in vitro decreased 2-3 fold the frequency of mobilization of the test plasmids. The deletion of O(M) within the RA3 conjugative module had no effect on transfer if the mobC-nic operon was expressed from the heterologous promoter. If only nic was expressed from the heterologous promoter (no mobC) the conjugative transfer frequency of such plasmid was 1000-fold lower. CONCLUSION: The MobC is an auxiliary transfer protein of dual function. It autoregulates the expression of mobC-nic operon while its presence significantly stimulates transfer efficiency. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12866-014-0235-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.