JB
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
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 Völker, U.
Right arrow Articles by Hecker, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Völker, U.
Right arrow Articles by Hecker, M.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Bacteriology, July 1999, p. 3942-3948, Vol. 181, No. 13
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Expression of the sigma B-Dependent General Stress Regulon Confers Multiple Stress Resistance in Bacillus subtilis

Uwe Völker,1 Björn Maul,2 and Michael Hecker2,*

Laboratorium für Mikrobiologie und MPI für terrestrische Mikrobiologie, Philipps-Universität, 35043 Marburg,1 and Institut für Mikrobiologie und Molekularbiologie, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität, 17487 Greifswald,2 Germany

Received 16 February 1999/Accepted 19 April 1999


    ABSTRACT
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
References

The alternative sigma factor sigma B of Bacillus subtilis is required for the induction of approximately 100 genes after the imposition of a whole range of stresses and energy limitation. In this study, we investigated the impact of a null mutation in sigB on the stress and starvation survival of B. subtilis. sigB mutants which failed to induce the regulon following stress displayed an at least 50- to 100-fold decrease in survival of severe heat (54°C) or ethanol (9%) shock, salt (10%) stress, and acid (pH 4.3) stress, as well as freezing and desiccation, compared to the wild type. Preloading cells with sigma B-dependent general stress proteins prior to growth-inhibiting stress conferred considerable protection against heat and salt. Exhaustion of glucose or phosphate induced the sigma B response, but surprisingly, sigma B did not seem to be required for starvation survival. Starved wild-type cells exhibited about 10-fold greater resistance to salt stress than exponentially growing cells. The data argue that the expression of sigma B-dependent genes provides nonsporulated B. subtilis cells with a nonspecific multiple stress resistance that may be relevant for stress survival in the natural ecosystem.


    INTRODUCTION
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
References

One of the earliest responses of a Bacillus subtilis cell population to different stressful environmental conditions is the striking and immediate induction of a large number of general stress proteins. Heat, acid, ethanol, and salt stress or starvation for glucose, oxygen, or phosphate induces probably more than 100 stress genes that form the sigma B-dependent general stress regulon (4, 11, 14, 45). The mechanism of this induction has been elucidated: the sigB operon itself is induced by all of the stress and starvation signals (9, 10, 13, 25, 28, 45). The complex signal transduction network conveying the different stress and starvation stimuli to sigB has been elucidated by the laboratories of Price, Haldenwang, and Losick: all of these stimuli enhance the activity of sigma B, thereby inducing the sigB operon itself and consequently the entire sigma B regulon (1-3, 8, 9, 15, 19, 29, 47, 48, 51).

Contrary to the wealth of information on the regulation of the activity of sigma B, the physiological function of sigma B remained obscure despite the increasing list of newly described genes subject to sigma B control (24). Based on the induction profile, we suggested in 1986 that these proteins may have a rather nonspecific but nevertheless essential protective function under stress regardless of the specific growth-limiting factor (38). Later we found that the translational capacity used for the production of general stress proteins increases from about 1% in growing cells to 20 or even 30% in starved or stressed cells, suggesting a crucial physiological role of the proteins in stress adaptation (11). Elucidation of the structure and function of this stress and starvation regulon seemed to be essential for understanding the physiology of growth-restricted bacterial cells in general.

Two principal approaches should help to elucidate the function of the general stress regulon: (i) identification of the function of stress proteins belonging to the sigma B regulon may allow predictions on the function of the entire regulon, and (ii) comparison of the stress tolerance of wild-type cells with that of strains carrying mutations in sigB itself or in sigma B-dependent general stress genes will provide experimental evidence for the function of the entire regulon.

Some of the general stress proteins identified so far seem to be involved in the nonspecific protection from oxidative stress, from osmotic and water stress, or from heat stress. Therefore, we recently concluded that the products of sigma B-dependent stress genes most likely provide B. subtilis cells in transition from a growing to a nongrowing state with a comprehensive multiple stress resistance machine in anticipation of future stress during long-term survival as nongrowing vegetative cells. Furthermore, we suggested that this stress-resistant state of growth-restricted cells could be an essential part of a survival strategy alternative to sporulation (for a review, see reference 26).

However, the phenotypic studies of sigB mutants available up to 1995 did not indicate any essential role in stress adaptation. sigma B mutants were impaired in neither growth nor sporulation (12, 20). Furthermore, sigma B seemed to be nonessential for the survival of B. subtilis following heat shock, since a sigB null mutant was as temperature resistant as the wild type (10). First hints for a role of sigma B-dependent genes emerged when an insertional inactivation of the sigma B-dependent ctc gene resulted in a sporulation frequency at 48°C lower than that in the wild type (43).

Considering the discrepancies between the growing list of newly described sigma B-dependent genes on the one hand and the lack of a distinct stress-sensitive phenotype of sigB mutants on the other, a systematic reinvestigation of the function of the sigma B-dependent stress response became necessary. Recently, a sigB mutant was found to be extremely sensitive to the radical-producing agent cumene hydroperoxide both during growth and in stationary phase (5). Furthermore, the sigB mutant was impaired in the development of the resistance against hydrogen peroxide nonspecifically acquired in glucose-starved cells (21) as well as against acid or alkaline stress (22). In this report, we present the results of a systematic study on the stress resistance of sigB mutants compared to the wild type, underlining the suggestion that sigma B is responsible for the development of multiple stress resistance in nongrowing B. subtilis cells.


    MATERIALS AND METHODS
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
References

Bacterial strains. The B. subtilis wild-type strain 168 (trpC2), its isogenic sigB mutant ML6 (trpC2 sigB::Delta HindIII-EcoRV::cat) (27), and BSA115 were grown either in LB or in a synthetic medium described previously (42). In BSA115 (trpC2 rsbU::kan PBDelta 28::Pspac rsbW313 pTET-I SPbeta ctc::lacZ) (44), rsbW is inactivated by a frameshift mutation and the downstream half of the sigB operon is placed under the control of the isopropyl-beta -D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG)-inducible promoter Pspac. Inclusion of IPTG triggers the production of active sigma B and hyperinduction of the sigma B regulon in this strain.

Growth conditions and viability assay. The cultures were inoculated into prewarmed LB or synthetic medium; during exponential growth, the cultures (6 × 107 to 8 × 107 cells per ml) were exposed to the stresses according to the following scheme: for heat shock, the culture was transferred to 54°C; for ethanol stress, ethanol was added to a final concentration of 9% (vol/vol); for salt stress, solid NaCl was added to a final concentration of 10% (wt/vol); for acid shock, 1 N HCl was added to shift the pH of the culture from 7.5 to 4.3; for freezing, aliquots of the culture were rapidly frozen at -20°C, thawed, and plated at the time indicated. Cells were preadapted if indicated by incubation for 30 min either in the presence of 4% NaCl, at 48°C, or at pH 5.2. Thereafter, the stress strength was raised to the level described above. The influence of preloading cells with sigma B-dependent stress proteins was investigated by dividing an exponentially growing culture of BSA115 60 min (LB) or 120 min (synthetic medium) prior to stress and including 1 mM IPTG (final concentration) in one half of the culture. Both parts were exposed to the stresses as described above. The osmoprotectant glycine betaine was added in some experiments to a final concentration of 1 mM.

At the time points indicated, aliquots of the culture were sampled and diluted in 0.9% (wt/vol) NaCl solution, and appropriate dilutions were plated on LB agar plates to determine cell viability. All experiments were performed at least in triplicate, and the results of typical experiments are displayed in the figures.


    RESULTS
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
References

Role of sigma B in heat and ethanol stress resistance. Transferring B. subtilis from 37 to 48°C is commonly applied to induce the expression of the sigma B regulon (10, 45), but the sigB mutant displayed no difference in either growth or survival compared with the wild type (data not shown). However, assuming that sigma B-dependent gene expression serves to prepare the cell for more severe stress conditions, then the effect of the lack of sigma B could be more pronounced at harsher conditions. Therefore, the heat shock was repeated by shifting bacteria from 37 to 52°C. Whereas wild-type bacteria continued to grow, albeit at a reduced rate, the sigB mutant strain ceased growth and started to lyse (Fig. 1A). Since this reduction in optical density of the sigB mutant was accompanied by a slight decrease in survival only (data not shown), the heat shock was extended to 54°C, which also prevented growth of the wild type (Fig. 1A). At this critical point when even the wild-type strain was severely impaired, viability declined dramatically within 60 min for both strains, but striking differences in survival between the wild type and the sigB mutant became visible (Fig. 1B). A mild heat preadaptation period at 48°C prevented the decrease in viability in the wild type but not in the sigB mutant. As a result, the differences in survival between the two strains became much more pronounced: after 5 h, a more than 1,000-fold difference in heat stress survival between the wild type and the sigB mutant was found. Nevertheless, we observed a protective effect by mild heat stress also in the sigB mutant, most likely because of the induction of the sigma B-independent chaperone-encoding genes (Fig. 1B).


View larger version (19K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
  		FIG. 1.   Growth and survival of B. subtilis strains during heat shock and ethanol stress. The wild-type strain 168 (squares) and its isogenic sigB mutant ML6 (triangles) were grown in LB and exposed to either heat shock (A and B) or ethanol stress (C). (A) The growth of cultures was monitored by measuring the optical density at 540 nm. The strains were cultivated at 37°C (open symbols) or transferred at time zero to 52°C (black symbols) or 54°C (gray symbols). (B) Survival was determined by plating appropriate dilutions of samples taken at the time indicated. The number of cells of each strain present at the time zero immediately before treatment was set at 100%. Open symbols, cultures shifted to 54°C at time zero; filled symbols, cultures incubated for 30 min at 48°C prior to transfer to the final temperature of 54°C. (C) Viability was assayed immediately before and at different time points after the addition of ethanol to a final concentration of 9% (vol/vol).

Ethanol treatment seems to induce cell damage similar to that caused by heat shock (36), and ethanol-treated cells of a sigB mutant displayed a lower growth yield than the corresponding wild-type strain (22). Therefore, results similar to those observed for heat shock were expected for ethanol. The sigB mutant showed indeed an approximately 100-fold greater drop in cell survival in response to treatment with 9% ethanol than its wild-type counterpart (Fig. 1C).

Role of sigma B in resistance to salt stress. Comparison of the growth patterns of sigB mutant cells and wild-type bacteria after exposure to NaCl in the range from 4 to 16% (final concentration) revealed no difference between the two strains (data not shown). However, the strains displayed clear differences in survival of such harsh conditions. The survival rate of the wild-type strain was approximately 50-fold higher than that of the sigB mutant (Fig. 2A). An attempt to protect these cells by a mild (4% NaCl) salt preadaptation for 30 min increased the viability of the wild type 10-fold but had no effect on the sigB mutant (Fig. 2A). In contrast to heat shock, the pretreatment did not completely protect the wild-type bacteria.


View larger version (19K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
  		FIG. 2.   Survival of B. subtilis strains during salt stress. The wild-type strain 168 (squares) and its isogenic sigB mutant ML6 (triangles) were grown in a synthetic medium and exposed to salt stress. Survival was determined as described in the legend to Fig. 1. (A) Open symbols represent cultures exposed to 10% (wt/vol) sodium chloride at time zero; filled symbols represent cultures pretreated with a mild salt stress of 4% NaCl for 30 min before the sodium chloride concentration was raised to 10% (wt/vol) at time zero. (B) The sigB mutant ML6 was grown in synthetic medium with (closed triangles) or without (open triangles) 1 mM glycine betaine; 30 min before the sodium chloride concentration was increased to 10% (wt/vol), the bacteria were exposed to a mild salt stress of 4% NaCl.

Glycine betaine is a very effective osmoprotectant in B. subtilis (30). We wanted to determine whether glycine betaine can compensate for the missing induction of the sigma B response in the sigB mutant. Addition of 1 mM glycine betaine to growing sigB mutant cells before the imposition of salt stress triggered an almost complete protection against the otherwise lethal salt stress (Fig. 2B). This result indicates that induction of sigma B-dependent general stress genes and accumulation of osmoprotective substances constitute alternative mechanisms for protection against the deleterious effects of growth-inhibiting salt concentrations. Inclusion of 1 mM glycine betaine in the culture medium did not protect heat-damaged cells (data not shown), indicating that heat and salt seem to cause distinctively different types of damage.

Artificial induction of the sigma B response and cross-adaptation produce stress resistance. To separate the effects of the sigma B response from protection triggered by induction of specific stress proteins, we analyzed the effects of cross-adaptation and preloading cells with sigma B-dependent general stress proteins.

A mild heat preadaptation which also induced the sigma B-dependent stress genes was almost as effective as a mild salt pretreatment in protection against severe salt stress at least within 60 min after imposition of the salt stress (Fig. 3B). As expected, this cross-protection occurred in the wild type but not in the sigB mutant. Preincubating wild-type cells with 4% NaCl for 30 min prior to a heat treatment at 54°C similarly provided a significant but incomplete protection (Fig. 3A).


View larger version (38K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
  		FIG. 3.   Influence of cross-adaptation (A and B) and preloading bacteria with general stress proteins (C and D) on survival of heat shock (A and C) or salt stress (B and D). Bacteria were grown in a synthetic medium, and during exponential growth the cultures were exposed to heat shock or salt stress. Survival was determined as described in the legend to Fig. 1. (A) The wild-type strain 168 was pretreated for 30 min with either a mild heat shock of 48°C (black squares) or a mild salt stress of 4% NaCl (gray squares) prior to the shift to 54°C or directly exposed to 54°C (open squares) at time zero. (B) The wild-type strain 168 (squares) or its isogenic sigB counterpart ML6 (triangles) were exposed to 10% (wt/vol) sodium chloride at time zero. Cells were immediately exposed to the severe salt stress (open symbols) or pretreated for 30 min with 4% NaCl (black symbols) or a mild heat shock of 48°C (gray symbols). (C and D) B. subtilis BSA115 was grown in synthetic medium. During exponential growth, the culture was divided and IPTG was added to one half to a final concentration of 1 mM; 120 min after the addition of IPTG (time zero), both cultures were exposed to either 54°C (C) or 10% (wt/vol) NaCl (D). Open triangles, no IPTG; closed triangles, 1 mM IPTG added.

In another set of experiments, the level of sigma B-dependent stress proteins was varied without exposing bacteria to stress. In B. subtilis BSA115, a sigB operon with a null mutation in the primary negative regulator rsbW is placed under the control of the IPTG-inducible promoter Pspac. Addition of IPTG prior to heat shock triggered the accumulation of large amounts of general stress proteins in the absence of stress and partially prevented the sharp decline in cell survival at 54°C observed in the absence of IPTG (Fig. 3C). In the case of severe salt stress, the addition of IPTG almost completely restored cell viability, indicating that the sigma B-dependent stress response seems to be mainly responsible for the resistance against severe salt stress (Fig. 3D).

sigma B and acid stress resistance. Exponentially growing cells treated at pH 4.3 showed a dramatic drop in cell survival within 60 min, but the sigB mutant was about 50- to 100-fold more sensitive than its wild-type counterpart (Fig. 4). Both strains, however, exhibited an about 10-fold increase in cell viability after a 30-min preexposure to mild acid stress (pH 5.2), indicating that this protective acid-adaptive response does not depend solely on sigma B.


View larger version (24K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
  		FIG. 4.   Influence of sigma B on survival of acid shock. During exponential growth in LB, cultures of the wild-type strain 168 (squares) and the sigB mutant ML6 (triangles) were exposed to acid shock. Survival was determined as described in the legend to Fig. 1. Acid shock was imposed either directly at time zero by shifting the pH of the culture medium from 7.5 to 4.3 (open symbols) or after a preadaptation for 30 min with a intermediate acid shock at pH 5.2 (filled symbols).

Influence of sigma B on survival of freezing and thawing. The effect on survival of B. subtilis of changing the water activity inside the cell during freezing and thawing was tested. Samples of the B. subtilis wild-type strain 168 and its isogenic sigB mutant strain ML6 were taken 1 h after the cultures had entered the stationary phase as a result of the exhaustion of glucose from a synthetic medium and immediately frozen at -20°C without the addition of a cryoprotective substance. Over a period of 14 days, we thawed aliquots of the samples each day at room temperature and assayed viability by plating on LB agar plates. The results shown in Fig. 5 indicate that the wild-type cells survived the treatment 50- to 100-fold better than the sigB mutant. These findings were supported by desiccation experiments: the wild-type strain survived lyophilization at least 10-fold better than the sigB strain (data not shown).


View larger version (21K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
  		FIG. 5.   Influence of sigma B on survival of freezing and thawing. One hour after cultures of the wild-type strain (squares) and the sigB mutant (triangles) had entered the stationary phase as a result of the exhaustion of glucose, samples were removed and immediately frozen at -20°C. Each day, aliquots were thawed at room temperature and appropriate dilutions were plated on LB agar plates. The number of cells present during the sampling was set at 100%.

Role of sigma B in starvation survival. sigma B does not seem to be essential for starvation survival under glucose or phosphate limitation in a minimal medium. Similar starvation survival kinetics were measured for the wild type and the sigB mutant (data not shown). It is well known that glucose-starved cells become resistant to oxidative stress (for a review, see reference 18). This nonspecifically acquired stress resistance depends on sigma B because glucose-starved cells of a sigB mutant were much more sensitive to oxidative stress than starved wild-type cells (21). Because glucose starvation activates the sigma B response, we wondered if the resistance to other stresses in glucose-starved cells is also enhanced under these conditions. Surprisingly, glucose-starved cells were as sensitive to heat stress as exponentially growing cells (not shown). In the case of salt stress resistance, the difference between growing and glucose-starved cells was at least 10-fold (Fig. 6). However, glucose-starved wild-type and sigB mutant cells differed only two- to threefold in salt stress resistance, because of the development of a sigma B-independent salt resistance in both strains during glucose starvation (Fig. 6).


View larger version (21K):
[in this window]
[in a new window]
  		FIG. 6.   Influence of glucose starvation on survival of salt stress. The wild-type strain 168 (squares) and its isogenic sigB mutant ML6 (triangles) were grown in a synthetic medium and exposed to salt stress (12% [wt/vol], final concentration) either during exponential growth (open symbols) or 1 h after the cultures had entered the stationary phase as a result of the exhaustion of glucose (filled symbols). Survival was determined as described in the legend to Fig. 1. Salt was added at time zero.


    DISCUSSION
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
References

sigma B was identified as the first bacterial alternative sigma factor almost 20 years ago, but interest in sigma B declined after it was determined that this sigma factor is not involved in sporulation (12, 20, 27, 28). The discovery that sigma B, whose activity itself is tightly regulated by a set of different environmental stimuli, controls a large general stress and starvation regulon activated in nongrowing cells may have been responsible for the revival of attention to sigma B (10, 13, 14, 45). Several laboratories started to investigate not only the role of sigma B in the adaptation to growth-restricting conditions but also the pathogenicity of gram-positive bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus, Listeria monocytogenes, and mycobacteria (7, 17, 32, 33, 50).

The discrepancy between a constantly increasing list of newly described sigma B-dependent stress genes (26) and the lack of any altered phenotype of sigB mutants (12, 20) called for a careful reinvestigation of the physiological role of sigma B. It was tempting to speculate that this large stress regulon might fulfill a crucial adaptive function under stress, but experimental evidence was lacking. Recently, new data revealed that sigma B is necessary for the adaptation to oxidative stress (21) as well as to acid or alkaline stress (22). It is interesting that the sigma B regulon is clearly involved in adaptation to oxidative and alkaline stress, but neither induces this sigma B regulon. On the other hand, no evidence has been presented for any role of sigma B in protection against heat and salt stress, which are excellent inducers of the more than 100 genes of the sigma B regulon. The results presented in this report suggest that general stress proteins are required during growth inhibition resulting from severe heat or salt stress. Conditions which reduce but still permit growth do not require sigma B-dependent stress proteins for the development of resistance. Instead, specific stress proteins such as the systems used for the uptake and synthesis of osmoprotective substances sufficiently protect the cells during, for example, less severe osmotic stress (49; for a review, see reference (30).

Schulz et al. (40) and Li and Wong (34) found that dnaK or groESL mutants of B. subtilis were impaired in thermotolerance. Our data clearly demonstrate that besides chaperones, sigma B-dependent stress proteins are also involved in heat stress resistance in B. subtilis. The increase in the survival rates at 54°C of sigB mutant cells after pretreatment at 48°C (Fig. 1) might be explained by the induction of the DnaK and GroEL and also of the Clp machinery in the sigB mutant (11, 31). The much stronger, almost complete protective effect of the same mild heat shock pretreatment of the wild type argues for a major role of general stress proteins in this heat stress resistance (Fig. 1). Such a conclusion gains support from the protection from severe heat shock by cross-adaptation with a mild salt stress or preloading cells of BSA115 with sigma B-dependent stress proteins in the absence of stress (Fig. 3). Both variants yield only partial protection since they failed to induce the heat-specific chaperones, corroborating the essential function of chaperones in this adaptation (34, 40, 46).

A great difference in survival of wild-type and sigB mutant cells was also found when both strains were challenged with a severe, growth-inhibiting salt stress. The difference was enhanced after a 30-min preadaptation period with a mild salt stress (4% sodium chloride [Fig. 2]). This pretreatment increased the viability of the wild type more than 10-fold but did not substantially stimulate the survival rate of sigB mutant cells. This result suggests that contrary to the heat stress response where heat specific (chaperones) and general stress proteins contributed to the stress resistance, general stress proteins (and not salt stress-specific proteins) seem to play the major role in this acquired resistance against severe salt stress. This suggestion is supported by the fact that an artificial increase of the sigma B level by IPTG addition in strain BSA115 provided almost complete protection against the toxic salt stress but only partial protection against the lethal heat challenge (Fig. 3). Because the induction of general stress proteins seemed to be crucial for the acquired salt stress resistance, it is reasonable that a mild heat shock would be nearly as effective as a mild salt pretreatment (Fig. 2 and 3). Altogether, the results presented in this and related reports clearly show that sigma B-dependent stress proteins provide the stressed or starved cells with multiple stress resistance (5, 6, 21, 22). This stress resistance includes heat, ethanol, or salt stress resistance and resistance against acid or alkaline stress as found by Gaidenko and Price (22) or against oxidative stress. The multiple stress resistance also involves resistance to freezing and thawing. However, in the latter case it cannot be distinguished whether the killing is caused by water stress or by oxidative stress, which was shown to occur in yeast during aerobic freezing and thawing (37).

A similar multiple stress resistance in nutrient-starved Escherichia coli cells depends on RpoS, confirming the suggestion that the two regulons may fulfill similar adaptive functions in nongrowing cells (25). However, sigma B does not contribute to the starvation survival potential as RpoS does for E. coli (35) either in B. subtilis (this study and reference 22) or in S. aureus (16). This conclusion is supported by a recent study of Schweder et al., who found that the B. subtilis wild-type strain has no growth advantage compared with a sigB mutant grown in a glucose-limited chemostat in the absence of additional stresses (41). These results indicate that sigma B-dependent stress proteins do not contribute to the starvation survival potential of glucose-starved cells; rather, the main function of sigma B is to protect the starved cell against future stress that may emerge during long-term survival. Glucose-starved cells develop an oxidative stress resistance that depends on sigma B (21). This nonspecific and multiple stress resistance of glucose-starved cells also includes salt stress resistance that increased more than 10-fold during starvation. Surprisingly, the salt resistance acquired during glucose starvation is only partially sigma B dependent (Fig. 6). Thermal resistance, however, does not significantly increase after glucose exhaustion compared to exponentially growth despite the fact that the sigma B regulon is fully active. Failure of development of a full heat stress resistance might at least partially be accounted for by the lack of induction of chaperones in glucose-starved cells (11).

Therefore, the main function of sigma B during energy depletion should be to equip glucose-starved cells with nonspecific resistance to oxidative stress, including resistance to freezing and thawing or to UV light damage (not shown here). In addition to this function, sigma B is essential for the interaction with a severe heat, ethanol, acid, or salt challenge, cross-protection between these stimuli included. Oxidative stress, changing osmotic or salt stress conditions triggered by desiccation and rain, and also acid or heat stress may be typical growth-restricting conditions in the upper layers of soil, the natural habitat of B. subtilis. The sigma B-dependent stress response could be particularly relevant for cell survival in soil under conditions that do not allow efficient sporulation such as high osmolarity or low cell density (23, 39). Therefore, it is tempting to speculate that sigB mutants in soil have a survival disadvantage compared to the wild type, but experimental evidence is still lacking.

The function of the sigB regulon in multiple and prospective stress resistance is in good accordance with recent data on the function of sigma B-dependent genes (for a review, see reference 26). These genes form a complex regulon that may comprise more than 100 genes. The identification of their function was one of our main strategies to uncover the function of the regulon. It is an attractive goal for future research to assign the single general stress proteins to the different components of the multiple stress resistance network typical of stressed or starving B. subtilis cells.


    ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank Anita Harang for excellent technical assistance throughout this investigation. We also thank E. Bremer for stimulating discussion.

This work was supported by grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft to M.H. and U.V. and by a grant from the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie to M.H.


    FOOTNOTES

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universität, Institut für Mikrobiologie und Molekularbiologie, Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Str. 15, 17487 Greifswald, Germany. Phone: 0049-3834-864200. Fax: 0049-3834-864202. E-mail: hecker{at}microbio7.biologie.uni-greifswald.de.


    REFERENCES
Top
Abstract
Introduction
Materials and Methods
Results
Discussion
References

1. Akbar, S., C. M. Kang, T. A. Gaidenko, and C. W. Price. 1997. Modulator protein RsbR regulates environmental signalling in the general stress pathway of Bacillus subtilis. Mol. Microbiol. 24:567-578[Medline].
2. Alper, S., A. Dufour, D. A. Garsin, L. Duncan, and R. Losick. 1996. Role of adenosine nucleotides in the regulation of a stress-response transcription factor in Bacillus subtilis. J. Mol. Biol. 260:165-177[Medline].
3. Alper, S., L. Duncan, and R. Losick. 1994. An adenosine nucleotide switch controlling the activity of a cell type-specific transcription factor in B. subtilis. Cell 77:195-205[Medline].
4. Antelmann, H., J. Bernhardt, R. Schmid, H. Mach, U. Völker, and M. Hecker. 1997. First steps from a two-dimensional protein index towards a response-regulation map for Bacillus subtilis. Electrophoresis 18:1451-1463[Medline].
5. Antelmann, H., S. Engelmann, R. Schmid, and M. Hecker. 1996. General and oxidative stress responses in Bacillus subtilis: cloning, expression, and mutation of the alkyl hydroperoxide reductase operon. J. Bacteriol. 178:6571-6578[Abstract/Free Full Text].
6. Antelmann, H., S. Engelmann, R. Schmid, A. Sorokin, A. Lapidus, and M. Hecker. 1997. Expression of a stress- and starvation-induced dps/pexB-homologous gene is controlled by the alternative sigma factor sigma B in Bacillus subtilis. J. Bacteriol. 179:7251-7256[Abstract/Free Full Text].
7. Becker, L. A., M. S. Cetin, R. W. Hutkins, and A. K. Benson. 1998. Identification of the gene encoding the alternative sigma factor sigma B from Listeria monocytogenes and its role in osmotolerance. J. Bacteriol. 180:4547-4554[Abstract/Free Full Text].
8. Benson, A. K., and W. G. Haldenwang. 1993. Bacillus subtilis sigma B is regulated by a binding protein (RsbW) that blocks its association with core RNA polymerase. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90:2330-2334[Abstract/Free Full Text].
9. Benson, A. K., and W. G. Haldenwang. 1992. Characterization of a regulatory network that controls sigma B expression in Bacillus subtilis. J. Bacteriol. 174:749-757[Abstract/Free Full Text].
10. Benson, A. K., and W. G. Haldenwang. 1993. The sigma B-dependent promoter of the Bacillus subtilis sigB operon is induced by heat shock. J. Bacteriol. 175:1929-1935[Abstract/Free Full Text].
11. Bernhardt, J., U. Völker, A. Völker, H. Antelmann, R. Schmid, H. Mach, and M. Hecker. 1997. Specific and general stress proteins in Bacillus subtilis---a two-dimensional protein electrophoresis study. Microbiology 143:999-1017[Abstract].
12. Binnie, C., M. Lampe, and R. Losick. 1986. Gene encoding the sigma 37 species of RNA polymerase sigma factor from Bacillus subtilis. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 83:5943-5947[Abstract/Free Full Text].
13. Boylan, S. A., A. R. Redfield, M. S. Brody, and C. W. Price. 1993. Stress-induced activation of the sigma B transcription factor of Bacillus subtilis. J. Bacteriol. 175:7931-7937[Abstract/Free Full Text].
14. Boylan, S. A., A. R. Redfield, and C. W. Price. 1993. Transcription factor sigma B of Bacillus subtilis controls a large stationary-phase regulon. J. Bacteriol. 175:3957-3963[Abstract/Free Full Text].
15. Boylan, S. A., A. Rutherford, S. M. Thomas, and C. W. Price. 1992. Activation of Bacillus subtilis transcription factor sigma B by a regulatory pathway responsive to stationary-phase signals. J. Bacteriol. 174:3695-3706[Abstract/Free Full Text].
16. Chan, P. F., S. J. Foster, E. Ingham, and M. O. Clements. 1998. The Staphylococcus aureus alternative sigma factor sigma B controls the environmental stress response but not starvation survival or pathogenicity in a mouse abscess model. J. Bacteriol. 180:6082-6089[Abstract/Free Full Text].
17. DeMaio, J., Y. Zhang, C. Ko, and W. Bshai. 1997. Mycobacterium tuberculosis sigF is part of a gene cluster with similarities to the Bacillus subtilis sigF and sigB operons. Tuberc. Lung Dis. 78:3-12[Medline].
18. Dowds, B. C. A. 1994. The oxidative stress response in Bacillus subtilis. FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 124:255-263[Medline].
19. Dufour, A., and W. G. Haldenwang. 1994. Interactions between a Bacillus subtilis anti-sigma factor (RsbW) and its antagonist (RsbV). J. Bacteriol. 176:1813-1820[Abstract/Free Full Text].
20. Duncan, M. L., S. S. Kalman, S. M. Thomas, and C. W. Price. 1987. Gene encoding the 37,000-dalton minor sigma factor of Bacillus subtilis RNA polymerase: isolation, nucleotide sequence, chromosomal locus, and cryptic function. J. Bacteriol. 169:771-778[Abstract/Free Full Text].
21. Engelmann, S., and M. Hecker. 1996. Impaired oxidative stress resistance of Bacillus subtilis sigB mutants and the role of katA and katE. FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 145:63-69[Medline].
22. Gaidenko, T. A., and C. W. Price. 1998. General stress transcription factor-sigma B and sporulation transcription factor-sigma H each contribute to survival of Bacillus subtilis under extreme growth conditions. J. Bacteriol. 180:3730-3733[Abstract/Free Full Text].
23. Grossman, A., and R. Losick. 1988. Extracellular control of spore formation in Bacillus subtilis. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85:4369-4373[Abstract/Free Full Text].
24. Haldenwang, W. G. 1995. The sigma factors of Bacillus subtilis. Microbiol. Rev. 59:1-30[Abstract/Free Full Text].
25. Hecker, M., W. Schumann, and U. Völker. 1996. Heat-shock and general stress response in Bacillus subtilis. Mol. Microbiol. 19:417-428[Medline].
26. Hecker, M., and U. Völker. 1998. Non-specific, general and multiple stress resistance of growth-restricted Bacillus subtilis cells by the expression of the sigma B regulon. Mol. Microbiol. 29:1129-1136[Medline].
27. Igo, M., M. Lampe, C. Ray, W. Schafer, C. P. Moran, Jr., and R. Losick. 1987. Genetic studies of a secondary RNA polymerase sigma factor in Bacillus subtilis. J. Bacteriol. 169:3464-3469[Abstract/Free Full Text].
28. Kalman, S., M. L. Duncan, S. M. Thomas, and C. W. Price. 1990. Similar organization of the sigB and spoIIA operons encoding alternate sigma factors of Bacillus subtilis RNA polymerase. J. Bacteriol. 172:5575-5585[Abstract/Free Full Text].
29. Kang, C. M., K. Vijay, and C. W. Price. 1998. Serine kinase activity of a Bacillus subtilis switch protein is required to transduce environmental stress signals but not to activate its target PP2C phosphatase. Mol. Microbiol. 30:189-196[Medline].
30. Kempf, B., and E. Bremer. 1998. Uptake and synthesis of compatible solutes as microbial stress responses to high-osmolarity environments. Arch. Microbiol. 170:319-330[Medline].
31. Krüger, E., T. Msadek, and M. Hecker. 1996. Alternate promoters direct stress-induced transcription of the Bacillus subtilis clpC operon. Mol. Microbiol. 20:713-723[Medline].
32. Kullik, I., and P. Giachino. 1997. The alternative sigma factor sigma B in Staphylococcus aureus---regulation of the sigB operon in response to growth phase and heat shock. Arch. Microbiol. 167:151-159[Medline].
33. Kullik, I., P. Giachino, and T. Fuchs. 1998. Deletion of the alternative sigma factor sigma B in Staphylococcus aureus reveals its function as a global regulator of virulence genes. J. Bacteriol. 180:4814-4820[Abstract/Free Full Text].
34. Li, M., and S. Wong. 1992. Cloning and characterization of the groESL operon from Bacillus subtilis. J. Bacteriol. 174:3981-3992[Abstract/Free Full Text].
35. Matin, A., E. A. Auger, P. H. Blum, and J. E. Schultz. 1989. Genetic basis of starvation survival in nondifferentiating bacteria. Annu. Rev. Microbiol. 43:293-316[Medline].
36. Mogk, A., A. Völker, S. Engelmann, M. Hecker, W. Schumann, and U. Völker. 1998. Nonnative proteins signal induction of the Bacillus subtilis CIRCE regulon. J. Bacteriol. 180:2895-2900[Abstract/Free Full Text].
37. Park, J., C. Grant, M. Davies, and I. Dawes. 1998. The cytoplasmic Cu,Zn superoxide dismutase of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is required for resistance to freeze-thaw stress---generation of free radicals during freezing and thawing. J. Biol. Chem. 273:22921-22928[Abstract/Free Full Text].
38. Richter, A., and M. Hecker. 1986. Heat-shock proteins in Bacillus subtilis: a two-dimensional gel electrophoresis study. FEMS Microbiol. Lett. 36:69-71.
39. Ruzal, S. M., C. Lopez, E. Rivas, and C. Sanchez-Rivas. 1998. Osmotic strength blocks sporulation at stage II by impeding activation of early sigma factors in Bacillus subtilis. Curr. Microbiol. 36:75-79[Medline].
40. Schulz, A., B. Tzschaschel, and W. Schumann. 1995. Isolation and analysis of mutants of the dnaK operon of Bacillus subtilis. Mol. Microbiol. 15:421-429[Medline].
41. Schweder, T., A. Kolyschkow, U. Völker, and M. Hecker. Analysis of the expression and function of the sigma B-dependent general stress regulon of Bacillus subtilis during slow growth. Arch. Microbiol., in press.
42. Stülke, J., R. Hanschke, and M. Hecker. 1993. Temporal activation of beta-glucanase synthesis in Bacillus subtilis is mediated by the GTP pool. J. Gen. Microbiol. 139:2041-2045[Medline].
43. Truitt, C. L., E. A. Weaver, and W. G. Haldenwang. 1988. Effects on growth and sporulation of inactivation of a Bacillus subtilis gene (ctc) transcribed in vitro by minor vegetative cell RNA polymerases (E-sigma 37, E-sigma 32). Mol. Gen. Genet. 212:166-171[Medline].
44. Völker, U., A. Dufour, and W. G. Haldenwang. 1995. The Bacillus subtilis rsbU gene product is necessary for RsbX-dependent regulation of sigma B. J. Bacteriol. 177:114-122[Abstract/Free Full Text].
45. Völker, U., S. Engelmann, B. Maul, S. Riethdorf, A. Völker, R. Schmid, H. Mach, and M. Hecker. 1994. Analysis of the induction of general stress proteins of Bacillus subtilis. Microbiology 140:741-752[Abstract].
46. Völker, U., H. Mach, R. Schmid, and H. Hecker. 1992. Stress proteins and cross-protection by heat shock and salt stress in Bacillus subtilis. J. Gen. Microbiol. 138:2125-2135[Medline].
47. Völker, U., A. Völker, and W. G. Haldenwang. 1996. Reactivation of the Bacillus subtilis anti-sigma B antagonist, RsbV, by stress- or starvation-induced phosphatase activities. J. Bacteriol. 178:5456-5463[Abstract/Free Full Text].
48. Völker, U., A. Völker, B. Maul, M. Hecker, A. Dufour, and W. G. Haldenwang. 1995. Separate mechanisms activate sigma B of Bacillus subtilis in response to environmental and metabolic stresses. J. Bacteriol. 177:3771-3780[Abstract/Free Full Text].
49. VonBlohn, C., B. Kempf, R. M. Kappes, and E. Bremer. 1997. Osmostress response in Bacillus subtilis---characterization of a proline uptake system (OpuE) regulated by high osmolarity and the alternative transcription factor sigma B. Mol. Microbiol. 25:175-187[Medline].
50. Wu, S. W., H. Delencastre, and A. Tomasz. 1996. Sigma-B, a putative operon encoding alternate sigma factor of Staphylococcus aureus RNA polymerase---molecular cloning and DNA sequencing. J. Bacteriol. 178:6036-6042[Abstract/Free Full Text].
51. Yang, X. F., C. M. Kang, M. S. Brody, and C. W. Price. 1996. Opposing pairs of serine protein kinases and phosphatases transmit signals of environmental stress to activate a bacterial transcription factor. Genes Dev. 10:2265-2275[Abstract/Free Full Text].

Journal of Bacteriology, July 1999, p. 3942-3948, Vol. 181, No. 13
0021-9193/99/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1999, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:


This Article
Right arrow Abstract Freely available
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