Global Transcriptional Regulators Involved in Carbon, Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur Metabolisms in Corynebacterium glutamicum

Bacteria are equipped with sophisticated metabolic control systems to adapt to variable nutrient conditions. While metabolic pathways are controlled at enzyme activity levels and at mRNA levels, scarcity in preferred nutrients causes transcriptional induction of genes for alternative nutrient source utilization. Transcriptional regulatory systems controlling metabolisms of carbon, nitrogen, phosphate, and sulfur in Corynebacterium glutamicum have been extensively studied for the last two decades. The knowledge of the regulators, including regulon members, operator sequences, and effectors, has deepened our understanding of the C. glutamicum physiology and has led to develop synthetic biology tools for metabolic engineering, maximizing the C. glutamicum potential as a production host. In this chapter, we review the studies of the transcriptional regulators, especially focus on those with global regulatory roles in the primary metabolism in C. glutamicum.