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Journal of Bacteriology, March 2005, p. 2010-2019, Vol. 187, No. 6
0021-9193/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JB.187.6.2010-2019.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

The Rok Protein of Bacillus subtilis Represses Genes for Cell Surface and Extracellular Functions

The Public Health Research Institute, Newark, New Jersey,¹ Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, Department of Genetics, University of Groningen, Haren, The Netherlands,² Department of Food Science and Technology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia³

Received 19 October 2004/ Accepted 1 December 2004

Rok is a repressor of the transcriptional activator ComK and is therefore an important regulator of competence in Bacillus subtilis (T. T. Hoa, P. Tortosa, M. Albano, and D. Dubnau, Mol. Microbiol. 43:15-26, 2002). To address the wider role of Rok in the physiology of B. subtilis, we have used a combination of transcriptional profiling, gel shift experiments, and the analysis of lacZ fusions. We demonstrate that Rok is a repressor of a family of genes that specify membrane-localized and secreted proteins, including a number of genes that encode products with antibiotic activity. We present evidence for the recent introduction of rok into the B. subtilis-Bacillus licheniformis-Bacilllus amyloliquefaciens group by horizontal transmission.

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