Deciphering the Fur transcriptional regulatory network highlights its complex role beyond iron metabolism in Escherichia coli [RNA-seq]

The ferric uptake regulator (Fur) plays a critical role in the transcriptional regulation of iron metabolism in many bacteria. However, the full regulatory potential of Fur beyond iron metabolism remains undefined. Here, we comprehensively reconstructed the Fur transcriptional regulatory network in Escherichia coli K-12 MG1655 in response to iron availability using genome-wide measurements (ChIP-exo and RNA-seq). Polyomic data analysis revealed that a total of 81 genes in 42 transcription units (TUs) are directly regulated by three different modes of Fur regulation, including apo- and holo-Fur activation as well as holo-Fur repression. We showed that Fur connects iron transport and utilization enzymes with negative-feedback loop pairs for iron homeostasis. In addition, direct involvement of Fur in the regulation of DNA synthesis, energy metabolism, and biofilm development was found. These results indicate that Fur exhibits a comprehensive regulatory role affecting many fundamental cellular processes linked to iron metabolism in order to coordinate E. coli responses to the availability of iron. Overall design: [RNA-seq]: A total of eight samples were analyzed. WT and fur mutant cells were cultured in the presense and absence of iron with biological duplicates. DPD = iron chelator.