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Journal of Bacteriology, June 1999, p. 3392-3401, Vol. 181, No. 11
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Role of SpoVG in Asymmetric Septation in Bacillus subtilis

Kiyoshi Matsunodagger and Abraham L. Sonenshein*

Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts 02111

Received 25 January 1999/Accepted 30 March 1999

Deletion of the citC gene, coding for isocitrate dehydrogenase, arrests sporulation of Bacillus subtilis at stage I after bipolar localization of the cell division protein FtsZ but before formation of the asymmetric septum. A spontaneous extragenic suppressor mutation that overcame the stage I block was found to map within the spoVG gene. The suppressing mutation and other spoVG loss-of-function mutations enabled citC mutant cells to form asymmetric septa and to activate the forespore-specific sigma factor sigma F. However, little induction of mother cell-specific, sigma E-dependent sporulation genes was observed in a citC spoVG double mutant, indicating that there is an additional defect(s) in compartmentalized gene expression in the citC mutant. These other defects could be partially overcome by reducing the synthesis of citrate, by buffering the medium, or by adding excess MnCl2. Overexpression of the spoVG gene in wild-type cells significantly delayed sigma F activation. Increased expression and stability of SpoVG in citC mutant cells may contribute to the citC mutant phenotype. Inactivation of the spoVG gene caused a population of otherwise wild-type cells to produce a small number of minicells during growth and caused sporulating cells to complete asymmetric septation more rapidly than normal. Unlike the case for inactivation of the cell division inhibitor gene minD, many of these minicells contained DNA and appeared only when the primary sporulation signal transduction pathway, the Spo0A phosphorelay, was active. These results suggest that SpoVG interferes with or is a negative regulator of the pathway leading to asymmetric septation.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, Tufts University School of Medicine, 136 Harrison Ave., Boston, MA 02111-1800. Phone: (617) 636-6761. Fax: (617) 636-0337. E-mail: asonensh{at}opal.tufts.edu.

dagger Present address: Department of Biotechnology, School of Engineering, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamadaoka, Suita, Osaka, Japan.

Journal of Bacteriology, June 1999, p. 3392-3401, Vol. 181, No. 11
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


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