Negative role of wblA in response to oxidative stress in Streptomyces coelicolor

In this study, we analyzed the oxidative stress response of wblA (whiB-like gene A, SCO3579), which was previously shown to be a global antibiotic down-regulator in Streptomyces coelicolor. Ever since a WblA ortholog named WhcA in Corynebacterium glutamicum was found to play a negative role in the oxidative stress response, S. coelicolor wblA has been proposed to have a similar effect. A wblA-deletion mutant exhibited a less sensitive response to oxidative stress induced by diamide present in solid plate culture. Using real-time RT-PCR analysis, we also compared the transcription levels of oxidative stress-related genes, including sodF, sodF2, sodN, trxB, and trxB2, between S. coelicolor wild type and a wblA-delerion mutant in the presence or absence of oxidative stress. Target genes were expressed higher in the wblA-delerion mutant compared with wild type, both in the absence and presence of oxidative stress. Moreover, expression of these target genes in S. coelicolor wild type was stimulated only in the presence of oxidative stress, suggesting that WblA plays a negative role in the oxidative stress response of S. coelicolor, similar to that of C. glutamicum WhcA, through the transcriptional regulation of oxidative stress-related genes.