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Five of these Ros\/MucR family members from <jats:italic>Mesorhizobium loti<\/jats:italic> (Ml proteins) have been recently structurally and functionally characterized demonstrating that Ml proteins are DNA-binding proteins. However, the DNA-binding studies were performed using the Ros DNA-binding site with the Ml proteins. Currently, there is no evidence as to when the Ml proteins are expressed during the <jats:italic>Mesorhizobium lo<\/jats:italic><jats:italic>ti<\/jats:italic> life cycle as well as no information concerning their natural DNA-binding site. In this study, we examine the <jats:italic>ml<\/jats:italic> genes expression profile in <jats:italic>Mesorhizobium loti<\/jats:italic> and show that <jats:italic>ml1<\/jats:italic>, <jats:italic>ml2<\/jats:italic>, <jats:italic>ml3<\/jats:italic> and <jats:italic>ml5<\/jats:italic> are expressed during planktonic growth and in biofilms. DNA-binding experiments show that the Ml proteins studied bind a conserved AT-rich site in the promoter region of the <jats:italic>exoY<\/jats:italic> gene from <jats:italic>Mesorhizobium loti<\/jats:italic> and that the proteins make important contacts with the minor groove of DNA. Moreover, we demonstrate that the Ml proteins studied form higher-order oligomers through their N-terminal region and that the same AT-rich site is recognized by MucR from <jats:italic>Brucella abortus<\/jats:italic> using a similar mechanism involving contacts with the minor groove of DNA and oligomerization.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-017-16127-5","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2017,11,13]],"date-time":"2017-11-13T14:20:18Z","timestamp":1510582818000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":18,"title":["Ml proteins from Mesorhizobium loti and MucR from Brucella abortus: an AT-rich core DNA-target site and oligomerization ability"],"prefix":"10.1038","volume":"7","author":[{"given":"Ilaria","family":"Baglivo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Luciano","family":"Pirone","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Emilia Maria","family":"Pedone","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Joshua Edison","family":"Pitzer","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lidia","family":"Muscariello","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Maria Michela","family":"Marino","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Gaetano","family":"Malgieri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrea","family":"Freschi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Angela","family":"Chambery","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Roy-Martin","family":"Roop II","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paolo Vincenzo","family":"Pedone","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2017,11,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"16127_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"6933","DOI":"10.1073\/pnas.0810003106","volume":"106","author":"I Baglivo","year":"2009","unstructured":"Baglivo, I. et al. 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