Expression of the Escherichia coli IrgA homolog adhesin is regulated by the ferric uptake regulation protein

The IrgA homolog adhesin (Iha) is an adherence-conferring outer membrane protein of Escherichia coli associated with enterohemorrhagic and uropathogenic strains. Here, we used primer extension analysis to identify iha promoters in O157:H7 and uropathogenic E. coli strains. Transcriptional fusions demonstrated that iha transcription is repressed by iron. Gel shifts using purified ferric uptake regulator protein (Fur) demonstrated that repression involves a direct interaction between Fur and the iha promoter. We identified strain-dependent differences in iha expression and determined that single nucleotide polymorphisms upstream of the iha promoter, in particular position -85, contribute to differences in expression levels.