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 Nitta, T.
Right arrow Articles by Yamada, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Nitta, T.
Right arrow Articles by Yamada, M.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, September 2000, p. 5231-5237, Vol. 182, No. 18
0021-9193/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Function of the sigma E Regulon in Dead-Cell Lysis in Stationary-Phase Escherichia coli

Takeshi Nitta,dagger Hiroshi Nagamitsu, Masayuki Murata, Hanae Izu, and Mamoru Yamada*

Department of Biological Chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Yamaguchi University, Yamaguchi 753-8515, Japan

Received 30 March 2000/Accepted 28 June 2000

Elevation of active sigma E levels in Escherichia coli by either repressing the expression of rseA encoding an anti-sigma E factor or cloning rpoE in a multicopy plasmid, led to a large decrease in the number of dead cells and the accumulation of cellular proteins in the medium in the stationary phase. The numbers of CFU, however, were nearly the same as those of the wild type or cells devoid of the cloned gene. In the wild-type cells, rpoE expression was increased in the stationary phase and a low-level release of intracellular proteins was observed. These results suggest that dead cell lysis in stationary-phase E. coli occurs in a sigma E-dependent fashion. We propose there is a novel physiological function of the sigma E regulon that may guarantee cell survival in prolonged stationary phase by providing nutrients from dead cells for the next generation.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biological Chemistry, Faculty of Agriculture, Yamaguchi University, 1677-1 Yoshida, Yamaguchi 753-8515, Japan. Phone: 81-83-933-5869. Fax: 81-83-933-5820. E-mail: yamada{at}agr.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp.

dagger Present address: Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0034, Japan.

Journal of Bacteriology, September 2000, p. 5231-5237, Vol. 182, No. 18
0021-9193/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, 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 © 2000 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.