Continuous Synthesis of Escherichia coli GroEL at a High Temperature

GroEL is a typical molecular chaperone. GroEL synthesis patterns at various culture temperatures in Escherichia coli were investigated in this study. No significant differences in the amount of GroEL produced from the chromosome were found at 30 and 37 degrees. However, GroEL production increased 3.4-fold at 42 degrees. GroEL synthesis was not transient but continuous at 42 degrees, although most heat shock gene expression is known to be transient. To understand the role of the groEL structural gene, a groE promoter-lacZ fusion was constructed. Interestingly, while transcriptional fusion is not thermally inducible, it is inducible by ethanol, suggesting that the secondary structure of the groEL transcript is involved in thermal regulation of the groEL gene. Secondary structures of groE mRNA at 37 and 42 degrees were compared using the computer program RNA draw. Distinct structures at the two temperatures were found, and these structures may be related to a high level of GroEL expression at 42 degrees.