J. Bacteriol., Jan 1996, 546-549, Vol 178, No. 2
Copyright © 1996, American Society for Microbiology

Exchange of precursor-specific elements between Pro-sigma E and Pro- sigma K of Bacillus subtilis

HC Carlson, S Lu, L Kroos and WG Haldenwang
Department of Microbiology, University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio 78284, USA.

sigma E and sigma K are sporulation-specific sigma factors of Bacillus subtilis that are synthesized as inactive proproteins. Pro-sigma E and pro-sigma K are activated by the removal of 27 and 20 amino acids, respectively, from their amino termini. To explore the properties of the precursor-specific sequences, we exchanged the coding elements for these domains in the sigma E and sigma K structural genes and determined the properties of the resulting chimeric proteins in B. subtilis. The pro-sigma E-sigma K chimera accumulated and was cleaved into active sigma K, while the pro-sigma K-sigma E fusion protein failed to accumulate and is likely unstable in B. subtilis. A fusion of the sigE "pro" sequence to an unrelated protein (bovine rhodanese) also formed a protein that was cleaved by the pro-sigma E processing apparatus. The data suggest that the sigma E pro sequence contains sufficient information for pro-sigma E processing as well as a unique quality needed for sigma E accumulation.

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