Heterologous expression of the gene for chlorite dismutase from Ideonella dechloratans is induced by an FNR‐type transcription factor

Regulation of the expression of the gene for chlorite dismutase (cld), located on the chlorate reduction composite transposon of the chlorate reducer Ideonella dechloratans, was studied. A 200 bp upstream sequence of the cld gene, and mutated and truncated versions thereof, was used in a reporter system in Escherichia coli. It was found that a sequence within this upstream region, which is nearly identical to the canonical FNR‐binding sequence of E. coli, is necessary for anaerobic induction of the reporter gene. Anaerobic induction was regained in an FNR‐deficient strain of E. coli when supplemented either with the fnr gene from E. coli or with a candidate fnr gene cloned from I. dechloratans. In vivo transcription of the suggested fnr gene of I. dechloratans was demonstrated by qRT‐PCR. Based on these results, the cld promoter of I. dechloratans is suggested to be a class II‐activated promoter regulated by an FNR‐type protein of I. dechloratans. No fnr‐type genes have been found on the chlorate reduction composite transposon of I. dechloratans, making anaerobic upregulation of the cld gene after a gene transfer event dependent on the presence of an fnr‐type gene in the recipient.