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 Ragkousi, K.
Right arrow Articles by Setlow, P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Ragkousi, K.
Right arrow Articles by Setlow, P.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, September 2004, p. 5567-5575, Vol. 186, No. 17
0021-9193/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.186.17.5567-5575.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Transglutaminase-Mediated Cross-Linking of GerQ in the Coats of Bacillus subtilis Spores

Katerina Ragkousi and Peter Setlow*

Department of Molecular, Microbial and Structural Biology, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, Connecticut

Received 12 April 2004/ Accepted 27 May 2004

The spores of Bacillus subtilis show remarkable resistance to many environmental stresses, due in part to the presence of an outer proteinaceous structure known as the spore coat. GerQ is a spore coat protein essential for the presence of CwlJ, an enzyme involved in the hydrolysis of the cortex during spore germination, in the spore coat. Here we show that GerQ is cross-linked into higher-molecular-mass forms due in large part to a transglutaminase. GerQ is the only substrate for this transglutaminase identified to date. In addition, we show that cross-linking of GerQ into high-molecular-mass forms occurs only very late in sporulation, after mother cell lysis. These findings, as well as studies of GerQ cross-linking in mutant strains where spore coat assembly is perturbed, lead us to suggest that coat proteins must assemble first and that their cross-linking follows as a final step in the spore coat formation pathway.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Molecular, Microbial and Structural Biology, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, CT 06032. Phone: (860) 679-2607. Fax: (860) 679-3408. E-mail: setlow{at}nso2.uchc.edu.

Journal of Bacteriology, September 2004, p. 5567-5575, Vol. 186, No. 17
0021-9193/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.186.17.5567-5575.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Isticato, R., Pelosi, A., Zilhao, R., Baccigalupi, L., Henriques, A. O., De Felice, M., Ricca, E. (2008). CotC-CotU Heterodimerization during Assembly of the Bacillus subtilis Spore Coat. J. Bacteriol. 190: 1267-1275 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Kuwana, R., Takamatsu, H., Watabe, K. (2007). Expression, Localization and Modification of YxeE Spore Coat Protein in Bacillus subtilis. J Biochem 142: 681-689 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • van Schaik, W., van der Voort, M., Molenaar, D., Moezelaar, R., de Vos, W. M., Abee, T. (2007). Identification of the {sigma}B Regulon of Bacillus cereus and Conservation of {sigma}B-Regulated Genes in Low-GC-Content Gram-Positive Bacteria. J. Bacteriol. 189: 4384-4390 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Monroe, A., Setlow, P. (2006). Localization of the Transglutaminase Cross-Linking Sites in the Bacillus subtilis Spore Coat Protein GerQ. J. Bacteriol. 188: 7609-7616 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Kuwana, R., Okuda, N., Takamatsu, H., Watabe, K. (2006). Modification of GerQ Reveals a Functional Relationship between Tgl and YabG in the Coat of Bacillus subtilis Spores.. J Biochem 139: 887-901 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Klobutcher, L. A., Ragkousi, K., Setlow, P. (2006). The Bacillus subtilis spore coat provides "eat resistance" during phagocytic predation by the protozoan Tetrahymena thermophila. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 103: 165-170 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • McPherson, D. C., Kim, H., Hahn, M., Wang, R., Grabowski, P., Eichenberger, P., Driks, A. (2005). Characterization of the Bacillus subtilis Spore Morphogenetic Coat Protein CotO. J. Bacteriol. 187: 8278-8290 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Zilhao, R., Isticato, R., Martins, L. O., Steil, L., Volker, U., Ricca, E., Moran, C. P. Jr, Henriques, A. O. (2005). Assembly and Function of a Spore Coat-Associated Transglutaminase of Bacillus subtilis. J. Bacteriol. 187: 7753-7764 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Steil, L., Serrano, M., Henriques, A. O., Volker, U. (2005). Genome-wide analysis of temporally regulated and compartment-specific gene expression in sporulating cells of Bacillus subtilis. Microbiology 151: 399-420 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»