JB
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Estacio, W.
Right arrow Articles by Márquez-Magaña, L. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Estacio, W.
Right arrow Articles by Márquez-Magaña, L. M.

J Bacteriol, July 1998, p. 3548-3555, Vol. 180, No. 14
0021-9193/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Dual Promoters Are Responsible for Transcription Initiation of the fla/che Operon in Bacillus subtilis

W. Estacio, S. Santa Anna-Arriola, M. Adedipe, and L. M. Márquez-Magaña*

Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, California 94132

Received 30 January 1998/Accepted 11 May 1998

The fla/che region contains more than 30 genes required for flagellar synthesis and chemotaxis in Bacillus subtilis, including the gene for the flagellum-specific sigma D factor, sigD. Sequence and primer extension data demonstrate that a PA promoter immediately upstream of flgB, henceforth referred to as the fla/che PA, and the PD-3 promoter are active in vivo. Transcription from the PD-3 element is dependent on sigma D activity and is regulated by the flagellum-specific negative regulator, FlgM. In a strain containing a deletion of fla/che PA (PADelta ), sigma D protein was not detected, demonstrating that the fla/che PA is necessary for wild-type expression of the sigD gene. Thus, sigD is part of the >26-kb fla/che operon. Consistent with a lack of detectable sigma D protein, the PADelta strain grows as long filaments and does not express a sigma D-dependent hag::lacZ reporter construct. These phenotypes are indicative of a lack of sigD expression or complete inhibition of sigma D activity by FlgM. However, sigma D activity is found in a double mutant containing the PADelta and a null mutation in flgM. The double mutant no longer grows as long filaments, and expression of hag::lacZ is partially restored. These data demonstrate that a low level of sigma D activity does exist in the PADelta mutant but can be detected only in the presence of a null mutation in flgM. Therefore, normal expression of sigD may also involve another promoter(s) within the fla/che operon.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biology, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Ave., San Francisco, CA 94132. Phone: (415) 338-3289. Fax: (415) 338-0927. E-mail: marquez{at}sfsu.edu.

J Bacteriol, July 1998, p. 3548-3555, Vol. 180, No. 14
0021-9193/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
Appl. Environ. Microbiol. Infect. Immun. Eukaryot. Cell
Mol. Cell. Biol. J. Virol. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev.
ALL ASM JOURNALS

Copyright © 1998 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.