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Journal of Bacteriology, April 2004, p. 1983-1990, Vol. 186, No. 7
0021-9193/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.186.7.1983-1990.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Contrasting Effects of ^E on Compartmentalization of ^F Activity during Sporulation of Bacillus subtilis

David W. Hilbert, Vasant K. Chary, and Patrick J. Piggot^*

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19140

Received 16 October 2003/ Accepted 12 December 2003

Spore formation by Bacillus subtilis is a primitive form of development. In response to nutrient starvation and high cell density, B. subtilis divides asymmetrically, resulting in two cells with different sizes and cell fates. Immediately after division, the transcription factor ^F becomes active in the smaller prespore, which is followed by the activation of ^E in the larger mother cell. In this report, we examine the role of the mother cell-specific transcription factor ^E in maintaining the compartmentalization of gene expression during development. We have studied a strain with a deletion of the spoIIIE gene, encoding a DNA translocase, that exhibits uncompartmentalized ^F activity. We have determined that the deletion of spoIIIE alone does not substantially impact compartmentalization, but in the spoIIIE mutant, the expression of putative peptidoglycan hydrolases under the control of ^E in the mother cell destroys the integrity of the septum. As a consequence, small proteins can cross the septum, thereby abolishing compartmentalization. In addition, we have found that in a mutant with partially impaired control of ^F, the activation of ^E in the mother cell is important to prevent the activation of ^F in this compartment. Therefore, the activity of ^E can either maintain or abolish the compartmentalization of ^F, depending upon the genetic makeup of the strain. We conclude that ^E activity must be carefully regulated in order to maintain compartmentalization of gene expression during development.

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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Temple University School of Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, 3400 North Broad St., Philadelphia, PA 19140. Phone: (215) 707-7927. Fax: (215) 707-7788. E-mail: piggotp{at}temple.edu.

Present address: Columbia University Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, New York, NY 10032.

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Journal of Bacteriology, April 2004, p. 1983-1990, Vol. 186, No. 7
0021-9193/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/JB.186.7.1983-1990.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

This article has been cited by other articles:

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• Carniol, K., Ben-Yehuda, S., King, N., Losick, R. (2005). Genetic Dissection of the Sporulation Protein SpoIIE and Its Role in Asymmetric Division in Bacillus subtilis. J. Bacteriol. 187: 3511-3520 [Abstract] [Full Text]