This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Ollington, J F Articles by Losick, R Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Ollington, J F Articles by Losick, R

Developmentally regulated transcription in a cloned segment of the Bacillus subtilis chromosome.

ABSTRACT

We describe a model system for studying developmentally regulated transcription during spore formation in Bacillus subtilis. This model system is a cloned cluster of genes known as 0.4 kb, ctc, and veg from the purA-cysA region of the B. subtilis chromosome. Each gene exhibited a distinct pattern of transcription in cells growing in glucose medium and in cells deprived of nutrients in sporulation medium. The 0.4 kb gene was transcribed at a low level in growing cells but was actively transcribed during nutrient deprivation in sporulation medium. This ribonucleic acid (RNA) synthesis was dependent upon the products of five B. subtilis genes that are involved in the initiation of spore formation:spo0A, spo0A, spo0E, spo0F, and spo0H. A mutation in any one of these regulatory genes severely restricted transcription of the 0.4 kb sequence. Transcription of the ctc gene was also turned on by nutrient deprivation, but this RNA synthesis was not impaired in spo0 mutants. Although not under spo0 control, the ctc gene probably corresponds to a locus, spoVC, whose product is required at a late stage of sporulation. Finally, the veg gene was actively transcribed both in growing cells and in nutrient-deprived cells. Like ctc RNA synthesis, transcription of the veg gene was not dependent upon the spo0 gene products. We propose that the spo0A, spo0B, spo0E, spo0F, and spo0H gene products are components of a pathway(s) that senses nutrient deprivation in B. subtilis and translates this environmental signal into the transcriptional activation of a subset of developmental genes.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Fukushima, T., Ishikawa, S., Yamamoto, H., Ogasawara, N., Sekiguchi, J. (2003). Transcriptional, Functional and Cytochemical Analyses of the veg Gene in Bacillus subtilis. J Biochem 133: 475-483 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Matsuno, K., Sonenshein, A. L. (1999). Role of SpoVG in Asymmetric Septation in Bacillus subtilis. J. Bacteriol. 181: 3392-3401 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Youngman, P., Zuber, P., Perkins, J. B., Sandman, K., Igo, M., Losick, R. (1985). New Ways to Study Developmental Genes in Spore-Forming Bacteria. Science 228: 285-291 [Abstract]