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Volume 146, Issue 7

Phylogeny and functional conservation of σ in endospore-forming bacteria

The GenBank accession numbers for the sequences determined in this work are AF225461–AF225466.

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Abstract

Conservation of the sporulation processes between spp. and spp. was investigated through evolutionary and complementation analyses of σ. Alignment of partial predicted σ amino acid sequences from three spp, and five spp. revealed that amino acid residues previously reported to be involved in promoter utilization (M124, E119 and N120) and strand opening (C117) are conserved among all these species. Phylogenetic analyses of various sigma factor sequences from endospore-forming bacteria revealed that homologues of σ, σ and σ clustered together regardless of genus, suggesting a common origin of sporulation sigma factors. The functional equivalence between σ and σ was investigated by complementing a non-polar σ null mutant with the operon from either ( ) or ( ). Single-copy integration of into the locus of the σ null mutant completely restored the wild-type sporulation phenotype, while only partially restored sporulation. Maximal expression of – occurred approximately 12 h later than maximal expression of –. Differences in temporal expression patterns for and in the background may at least partially explain the observed sporulation complementation phenotypes. This study suggests a common phylogenetic ancestor for σ in spp. and spp., although regulation of σ expression may differ in these two genera.

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
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  • Published Online:
Keyword(s): Bacillus spp. , Clostridium spp , sigma E , sigma factors and sporulation
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2000-07-01
2025-04-23
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/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-146-7-1593
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Phylogeny and functional conservation of σE in endospore-forming bacteriaThe GenBank accession numbers for the sequences determined in this work are AF225461–AF225466.
Microbiology 146, 1593 (2000); https://doi.org/10.1099/00221287-146-7-1593
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-146-7-1593
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/00221287-146-7-1593
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