In vivo study of transcriptional regulation in hyperthermoacidophilic archaea belonging to the genus Sulfolobus

Ss-LrpB from Sulfolobus solfataricus is an ideal model system for the study of transcription regulation in the hyperthermoacidophilic archaea. The construction of a gene disruption mutant has led to a breakthrough in this study, and was the first disruption mutant of an archaeal regulator gene generated in S. solfataricus. On the basis of this experience we will further study the physiological role of Ss-LrpB, construct an overexpression strain and generate promoter/operator gene fusions. The implementation of genetic techniques for Sulfolobus will open new perspectives for the study of various other archaeal transcription regulators in our laboratory.