1887

Abstract

In systematic screening four sporulation-specific genes, , , and , of unknown function were found in . These genes are located just upstream of the gene cluster oriented in the opposite direction. Northern blot analysis showed that was transcribed by the SigE RNA polymerase beginning 2 h ( ) after the onset of sporulation, and , and were transcribed by the SigK RNA polymerase beginning at of sporulation. The transcription of was dependent on SigK and GerE. The consensus sequences of the appropriate sigma factors were found upstream of each gene. There were putative GerE-binding sites upstream of . Insertional inactivation of the gene resulted in a reduction in resistance of the mutant spores to lysozyme and heat. Transmission electron microscopic examination of spores revealed a defect of sporulation at stage VI, resulting in loss of spore coats. These results suggest that YjcC is involved in assembly of spore coat proteins that have roles in lysozyme resistance. It is proposed that should be renamed as .

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.26432-0
2003-10-01
2024-12-03
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/micro/149/10/mic1493011.html?itemId=/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.26432-0&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Aronson A. I., Fitz-James P. 1976; Structure and morphogenesis of the bacterial spore coat. Bacteriol Rev 40:360–402
    [Google Scholar]
  2. Asai K., Takamatsu H., Iwano M., Kodama T., Watabe K., Ogasawara N. 2001; The Bacillus subtilis yabQ gene is essential for formation of the spore cortex. Microbiology 147:919–927
    [Google Scholar]
  3. Bauer T., Little S., Stover A. G., Driks A. 1999; Functional regions of the Bacillus subtilis spore coat morphogenetic protein CotE. J Bacteriol 181:7043–7051
    [Google Scholar]
  4. Beall B., Driks A., Losick R., Moran C. P. Jr 1993; Cloning and characterization of a gene required for assembly of the Bacillus subtilis spore coat. J Bacteriol 175:1705–1716
    [Google Scholar]
  5. Crater D. L., Moran C. P. Jr 2002; Two regions of GerE required for promoter activation in Bacillus subtilis . J Bacteriol 184:241–249
    [Google Scholar]
  6. Cutting S., Panzer S., Losick R. 1989; Regulatory studies on the promoter for a gene governing synthesis and assembly of the spore coat in Bacillus subtilis . J Mol Biol 207:393–404
    [Google Scholar]
  7. Cutting S. M., Vander Horn P. B. 1990; Genetic analysis. In Molecular Biological Methods for Bacillus pp  27–64 Edited by Harwood C. R., Cutting S. M. Chichester: Wiley;
    [Google Scholar]
  8. Driks A. 1999; Bacillus subtilis spore coat. Microbiol Mol Biol Rev 63:1–20
    [Google Scholar]
  9. Driks A. 2003; The dynamic spore. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 100:3007–3009
    [Google Scholar]
  10. Driks A., Roels S., Beall B., Moran C. P. Jr, Losick R. 1994; Subcellular localization of proteins involved in the assembly of the spore coat of Bacillus subtilis . Genes Dev 8:234–244
    [Google Scholar]
  11. Eichenberger P., Jensen S. T., Conlon E. M. 8 other authors 2003; The sigmaE regulon and the identification of additional sporulation genes in Bacillus subtilis . J Mol Biol 327:945–972
    [Google Scholar]
  12. Errington J. 1993; Bacillus subtilis sporulation: regulation of gene expression and control of morphogenesis. Microbiol Rev 57:1–33
    [Google Scholar]
  13. Goldman R. C., Tipper D. J. 1978; Bacillus subtilis spore coats: complexity and purification of a unique polypeptide component. J Bacteriol 135:1091–1106
    [Google Scholar]
  14. Gould G. W. 1983; Mechanisms of resistance and dormancy. In The Bacterial Spores vol. 2 pp  173–210 Edited by Hurst A., Gould G. W. London: Academic Press;
    [Google Scholar]
  15. Helmann J. D., Moran C. P. Jr 2001; RNA polymerase and sigma factors. In Bacillus subtilis and its Closest Relatives from Genes to Cells pp  289–312 Edited by Sonenshein A. L., Hoch J. A., Losick R. Washington, DC: American Society for Microbiology;
    [Google Scholar]
  16. Herrin D. L., Schmidt G. W. 1988; Rapid, reversible staining of northern blots prior to hybridization. Biotechniques 6:196–197–199–200
    [Google Scholar]
  17. Holland S. K., Cutting S., Mandelstam J. 1987; The possible DNA-binding nature of the regulatory proteins, encoded by spoIID and gerE , involved in the sporulation of Bacillus subtilis . J Gen Microbiol 133:2381–2391
    [Google Scholar]
  18. Ichikawa H., Halberg R., Kroos L. 1999; Negative regulation by the Bacillus subtilis GerE protein. J Biol Chem 274:8322–8327
    [Google Scholar]
  19. Igo M. M., Losick R. 1986; Regulation of a promoter that is utilized by minor forms of RNA polymerase holoenzyme in Bacillus subtilis . J Mol Biol 191:615–624
    [Google Scholar]
  20. Kobayashi K., Ehrlich S. D., Albertini A. 96 other authors 2003; Essential Bacillus subtilis genes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 100:4678–4683
    [Google Scholar]
  21. Kodama T., Takamatsu H., Asai K., Kobayashi K., Ogasawara N., Watabe K. 1999; The Bacillus subtilis yaaH gene is transcribed by SigE RNA polymerase during sporulation, and its product is involved in germination of spores. J Bacteriol 181:4584–4591
    [Google Scholar]
  22. Kodama T., Takamatsu H., Asai K., Ogasawara N., Sadaie Y., Watabe K. 2000; Synthesis and characterization of the spore proteins of Bacillus subtilis YdhD, YkuD, and YkvP, which carry a motif conserved among cell wall binding proteins. J Biochem (Tokyo) 128:655–663
    [Google Scholar]
  23. Kunst F., Ogasawara N., Moszer I. 148 other authors 1997; The complete genome sequence of the gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis . Nature 390:249–256
    [Google Scholar]
  24. Kuwana R., Kasahara Y., Fujibayashi M., Takamatsu H., Ogasawara N., Watabe K. 2002; Proteomics characterization of novel spore proteins of Bacillus subtilis . Microbiology 148:3971–3982
    [Google Scholar]
  25. Lewis P. J., Errington J. 1996; Use of green fluorescent protein for detection of cell-specific gene expression and subcellular protein localization during sporulation in Bacillus subtilis . Microbiology 142:733–740
    [Google Scholar]
  26. Moir A. 1981; Germination properties of a spore coat-defective mutant of Bacillus subtilis . J Bacteriol 146:1106–1116
    [Google Scholar]
  27. Ozin A. J., Henriques A. O., Yi H., Moran C. P. Jr 2000; Morphogenetic proteins SpoVID and SafA form a complex during assembly of the Bacillus subtilis spore coat. J Bacteriol 182:1828–1833
    [Google Scholar]
  28. Piggot P. J. 1973; Mapping of asporogenous mutations of Bacillus subtilis : a minimum estimate of the number of sporeulation operons. J Bacteriol 114:1241–1253
    [Google Scholar]
  29. Piggot P. J., Losick R. 2001; Sporulation genes and intercompartmental regulation. In Bacillus subtilis and its Closest Relatives from Genes to Cells pp  483–517 Edited by Sonenshein A. L., Hoch J. A., Losick R. Washington, DC: American Society for Microbiology;
    [Google Scholar]
  30. Price K. D., Losick R. 1999; A four-dimensional view of assembly of a morphogenetic protein during sporulation in Bacillus subtilis . J Bacteriol 181:781–790
    [Google Scholar]
  31. Roels S., Driks A., Losick R. 1992; Characterization of spoIVA , a sporulation gene involved in coat morphogenesis in Bacillus subtilis . J Bacteriol 174:575–585
    [Google Scholar]
  32. Sambrook J., Fritsch E. F., Maniatis T. 1989 Molecular Cloning: a Laboratory Manual , 2nd edn. Cold Spring Harbor, NY: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory;
    [Google Scholar]
  33. Sato T., Kenji H., Kobayashi Y. 1996; Analysis of suppressor mutations of spoIVCA mutations: occurrence of DNA rearrangement in the absence of a site-specific DNA recombinase SpoIVCA in Bacillus subtilis . J Bacteriol 178:3380–3383
    [Google Scholar]
  34. Schaeffer P., Millet J., Aubert J. P. 1965; Catabolic repression of bacterial sporulation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 54:704–711
    [Google Scholar]
  35. Stevens C. M., Daniel R., Illing N., Errington J. 1992; Characterization of a sporulation gene, spoIVA , involved in spore coat morphogenesis in Bacillus subtilis . J Bacteriol 174:586–594
    [Google Scholar]
  36. Stragier P., Losick R. 1996; Molecular genetics of sporulation in Bacillus subtilis . Annu Rev Genet 30:297–341
    [Google Scholar]
  37. Takamatsu H., Chikahiro Y., Kodama T., Koide H., Kozuka S., Tochikubo K., Watabe K. 1998; A spore coat protein, CotS, of Bacillus subtilis is synthesized under the regulation of sigmaK and GerE during development and is located in the inner coat layer of spores. J Bacteriol 180:2968–2974
    [Google Scholar]
  38. Takamatsu H., Kodama T., Nakayama T., Watabe K. 1999a; Characterization of the yrbA gene of Bacillus subtilis , involved in resistance and germination of spores. J Bacteriol 181:4986–4994
    [Google Scholar]
  39. Takamatsu H., Kodama T., Watabe K. 1999b; Assembly of the CotSA coat protein into spores requires CotS in Bacillus subtilis . FEMS Microbiol Lett 174:201–206
    [Google Scholar]
  40. Takamatsu H., Kodama T., Imamura A., Asai K., Kobayashi K., Nakayama T., Ogasawara N., Watabe K. 2000; The Bacillus subtilis yabG gene is transcribed by SigK RNA polymerase during sporulation, and yabG mutant spores have altered coat protein composition. J Bacteriol 182:1883–1888
    [Google Scholar]
  41. Vagner V., Dervyn E., Ehrlich S. D. 1998; A vector for systematic gene inactivation in Bacillus subtilis . Microbiology 144:3097–3104
    [Google Scholar]
  42. Webb C. D., Decatur A., Teleman A., Losick R. 1995; Use of green fluorescent protein for visualization of cell-specific gene expression and subcellular protein localization during sporulation in Bacillus subtilis . J Bacteriol 177:5906–5911
    [Google Scholar]
  43. Zhang J., Ichikawa H., Halberg R., Kroos L., Aronson A. I. 1994; Regulation of the transcription of a cluster of Bacillus subtilis spore coat genes. J Mol Biol 240:405–415
    [Google Scholar]
  44. Zheng L. B., Losick R. 1990; Cascade regulation of spore coat gene expression in Bacillus subtilis . J Mol Biol 212:645–660
    [Google Scholar]
  45. Zheng L. B., Donovan W. P., Fitz-James P. C., Losick R. 1988; Gene encoding a morphogenic protein required in the assembly of the outer coat of the Bacillus subtilis endospore. Genes Dev 2:1047–1054
    [Google Scholar]
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.26432-0
Loading
/content/journal/micro/10.1099/mic.0.26432-0
Loading

Data & Media loading...

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error