Cloning and sequence analysis of hydrogenase regulatory genes (hydHG) from Salmonella typhimurium

The nucleotide sequence of the hydHG operon, comprised of chromosomal genes that regulate labile hydrogenase activity in Salmonella typhimurium, was compared with the reported hydHG sequence of Escherichia coli. Nucleotide sequence analysis of a 4.8 kb EcoRI fragment of Salmonella chromosomal DNA revealed that one of the open reading frames (ORF) encoded a protein of 441 amino acid residues. This large ORF was identified on a 2.7 kb EcoRI/HindIII fragment and coded for the complete hydG gene. The carboxy-terminus (626 bp) of the hydH gene also was present immediately upstream of hydG. Expression of the Salmonella hydG gene in a T7 promoter/ polymerase system revealed the presence of a unique 45 kDa protein band. The incomplete hydH gene was not expressed. It is proposed that the labile hydrogenase activity in S. typhimurium may be regulated by the multiple component system.