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 Klein, W.
Right arrow Articles by Marahiel, M. A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Klein, W.
Right arrow Articles by Marahiel, M. A.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, September 1999, p. 5341-5349, Vol. 181, No. 17
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Cold Shock Response of Bacillus subtilis: Isoleucine-Dependent Switch in the Fatty Acid Branching Pattern for Membrane Adaptation to Low Temperaturesdagger

Wolfgang Klein, Michael H. W. Weber, and Mohamed A. Marahiel*

Philipps-Universität Marburg, Biochemie-FB Chemie, D-35032 Marburg, Germany

Received 22 March 1999/Accepted 22 June 1999

Bacillus subtilis has developed sophisticated mechanisms to withstand fluctuations in temperature. Membrane fatty acids are the major determinants for a sufficiently fluid membrane state to ensure the membrane's function at all temperatures. The fatty acid profile of B. subtilis is characterized by a high content of branched fatty acids irrespective of the growth medium. Here, we report on the importance of isoleucine for B. subtilis to survive cold shock from 37 to 15°C. Cold shock experiments with strain JH642 revealed a cold-protective function for all intermediates of anteiso-branched fatty acid biosynthesis. Metabolites related to iso-branched or straight-chain fatty acid biosynthesis were not protective. Fatty acid profiles of different B. subtilis wild-type strains proved the altered branching pattern by an increase in the anteiso-branched fatty acid content and a concomitant decrease of iso-branched species during cold shock. There were no significant changes in the fatty acid saturation or acyl chain length. The cold-sensitive phenotype of isoleucine-deficient strains in the absence of isoleucine correlated with their inability to synthesize more anteiso-branched fatty acids, as shown by the fatty acid profile. The switch to a fatty acid profile dominated by anteiso-C15:0 and C17:0 at low temperatures and the cold-sensitive phenotype of isoleucine-deficient strains in the absence of isoleucine focused our attention on the critical role of anteiso-branched fatty acids in the growth of B. subtilis in the cold.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Philipps-Universität Marburg, FB Chemie-Biochemie, Hans-Meerwein-Strasse, D-35032 Marburg. Phone: 49 6421-285722. Fax: 49 6421-282191. E-mail: marahiel{at}chemie.uni-marburg.de.

dagger This is dedicated to Rudolf K. Thauer for his 60th birthday.

Journal of Bacteriology, September 1999, p. 5341-5349, Vol. 181, No. 17
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, 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 © 1999 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.