This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Other Versions of this Article: JB.00904-07v1 189/19/6919    most recent Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Reprints and Permissions Copyright Information Books from ASM Press MicrobeWorld Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Mascher, T. Articles by Helmann, J. D. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Mascher, T. Articles by Helmann, J. D.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, October 2007, p. 6919-6927, Vol. 189, No. 19
0021-9193/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.00904-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Regulatory Overlap and Functional Redundancy among Bacillus subtilis Extracytoplasmic Function Factors

Thorsten Mascher, Anna-Barbara Hachmann, and John D. Helmann^*

Department of Microbiology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853-8101

Received 8 June 2007/ Accepted 23 July 2007

Bacillus subtilis encodes seven extracytoplasmic function (ECF) factors that regulate partially overlapping regulons related to cell envelope homeostasis and antibiotic resistance. Here, we investigated their physiological role by constructing a mutant set of single, double, triple, and quadruple ECF factor deletions in the undomesticated B. subtilis strain NCIB3610. This mutant set was subsequently screened for defects in motility, multicellular differentiation, and sensitivity to more than 200 chemicals by using Phenotype MicroArrays. A quadruple mutant strain, harboring deletions of the sigV, sigY, sigZ, and ylaC gene, behaved indistinguishably from the wild-type strain, indicative of either regulatory redundancy or very specific functions of these four ECF factors. In contrast, a triple mutant, inactivated for the sigM, sigW, and sigX genes (but none of the corresponding double mutants), showed a biphasic growth behavior and a complete loss of multicellular differentiation, as judged by both colony formation and the inability to form a pellicle. This triple mutant also displayed a greatly increased sensitivity to detergents and several cell wall antibiotics including ß-lactams, polymyxin B, and D-cycloserine. In several cases, these antibiotic-sensitive phenotypes are significantly enhanced in the triple mutant strain relative to strains lacking only one or two factors.

Published ahead of print on 3 August 2007.

Present address: Department of General Microbiology, Institute of Microbiology and Genetics, Georg-August-University, Grisebachstr. 8, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany.

This article has been cited by other articles:

• Heinrich, J., Lunden, T., Kontinen, V. P., Wiegert, T. (2008). The Bacillus subtilis ABC transporter EcsAB influences intramembrane proteolysis through RasP. Microbiology 154: 1989-1997 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Nagorska, K., Hinc, K., Strauch, M. A., Obuchowski, M. (2008). Influence of the {sigma}B Stress Factor and yxaB, the Gene for a Putative Exopolysaccharide Synthase under {sigma}B Control, on Biofilm Formation. J. Bacteriol. 190: 3546-3556 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
• Asai, K., Ishiwata, K., Matsuzaki, K., Sadaie, Y. (2008). A Viable Bacillus subtilis Strain without Functional Extracytoplasmic Function Sigma Genes. J. Bacteriol. 190: 2633-2636 [Abstract] [Full Text]