We identified a new regulator, PcaO, which is involved in regulation of the protocatechuate (PCA) branch of the -ketoadipate pathway in Corynebacterium glutamicum. PcaO is an atypical large ATP-binding LuxR family (LAL)-type regulator and does not have a Walker A motif. A mutant of C. glutamicum in which pcaO was disrupted (RES167⌬pcaO) was unable to grow on PCA, and growth on PCA was restored by complementation with pcaO. Both an enzymatic assay of PCA 3,4-dioxygenase activity (encoded by pcaHG) and transcriptional analysis of pcaHG by reverse transcription-PCR revealed that PcaO positively regulated pcaHG. A promoterLacZ transcriptional fusion assay suggested that PcaO interacted with the sequence upstream of pcaHG. Electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) analysis indicated that an imperfect palindromic sequence ( ؊78 AACCCCTGACCTTCGGGGTT ؊59 ) that was located upstream of the ؊35 region of the pcaHG promoter was essential for PcaO regulation. DNase I footprinting showed that this imperfect palindrome was protected from DNase I digestion. Site-directed mutation and EMSA tests revealed that this palindrome sequence was essential for PcaO binding to the DNA fragment. In vitro EMSA results showed that ATP weakened the binding between PcaO and its target sequence but ADP strengthened this binding, while the effect of protocatechuate on PcaO binding was dependent on the protocatechuate concentration.Protocatechuic acid (PCA) is an important intermediate during microbial degradation of various aromatic compounds, including natural products such as lignin monomers and chemically synthesized chemicals such as 4-chlorobenzoate. In many bacteria (5,8,12,13,16,20,23,25,30,34), PCA is degraded via the -ketoadipate pathway (Fig. 1A), and the ring cleavage dioxygenase (PCA 3,4-dioxygenase) is encoded by two consecutive genes, pcaHG (3). The pcaHG genes, together with other pca genes involved in PCA degradation, have been extensively investigated in Gram-negative bacteria, such as Pseudomonas putida (12,23) and Acinetobacter baylyi (10, 28), and recently have been investigated in Gram-positive bacteria, such as Rhodococcus and Streptomyces species (8, 16) (Fig. 1B).Regulation of the PCA branch of the -ketoadipate pathway has been investigated using several Gram-negative bacteria (41), and information is accumulating. In P. putida, the IclRtype PcaR protein regulates pcaIJBDCF (11, 30); however, how pcaHG is regulated is still unknown. In A. baylyi, the IclR-type PcaU protein regulates the pcaIJFBDKCHG operon, and PCA is the effector (10, 28, 40). In Sinorhizobium meliloti, PcaR regulates pcaIJF, while the LysR-type protein PcaQ regulates pcaDCHGB (20, 21). In Agrobacterium tumefaciens, PcaQ regulates pcaDCHGB and pcaJIF with -carboxy-cis,cismuconate and -ketoadipate as effectors (25,26). Putative regulators have been identified in Gram-positive bacteria, such as Corynebacterium glutamicum and Rhodococcus opacus (2,8,34,35); however, the regulation of the PCA branch of the -ketoadipate pathway has not been well docu...