The Wide-Domain Carbon Catabolite Repressor CreA Indirectly Controls Expression of the Aspergillus nidulans xlnB Gene, Encoding the Acidic Endo-β-(1,4)-Xylanase X(24)

The Aspergillus nidulans xlnB gene, which encodes the acidic endo-β-(1,4)-xylanase X(24), is expressed when xylose is present as the sole carbon source and repressed in the presence of glucose. That the mutation creA(d)30 results in considerably elevated levels of xlnB mRNA indicates a role for the wide-domain repressor CreA in the repression of xlnB promoter (xlnBp) activity. Functional analyses of xlnBp::goxC reporter constructs show that none of the four CreA consensus target sites identified in xlnBp are functional in vivo. The CreA repressor is thus likely to exert carbon catabolite repression via an indirect mechanism rather than to influence xlnB expression by acting directly on xlnB.