The regulatory unit of Bociffus subtifis strain 168 encompassing the structural genes of the N-acetylmuramoyl-L-alanine amidase and of its modifier has been sequenced, and found to be a divergon consisting of divergently transcribed operons fytABC and lytR. Proteins LytA, LytB and LytC are endowed with export signal peptides. Mature LytA is a 9-4 kDa, highly acidic polypeptide whose deduced amino acid sequence points to a lipoprotein. LytB and LytC, the modifier and the amidase, are highly basic. After cleavage of the signal sequence their molecular masses are 74.1 and 49.9 kDa, respectively. These two proteins share considerable homology in their N-terminal moieties and have three GSNRY consensus motifs, characteristic of nearly all amidases. The C-terminal moiety of LytB exhibits homology to the product of spoZZD. LytR is a 35 kDa protein which acts as an attenuator of the expression of both fytABC and fytR operons. Transcription of the fytABC operon proceeds from two promoters: PD, identified as P2*-, (Gilman et d , 1984), and an upstream PA. The former only is subject to LytR attenuation. Translational initiation of fytB and fytC is directed by UUG start codons, suggesting that fytA, B and C undergo coupled translation. Transcription of fytR is initiated at two start sites, one of which corresponds to a highly intense PA promoter whereas the other does not seem to share much homology with any of the known promoter consensus sequences. Both promoters are attenuated by LytR. It is confirmed that the synthesis of the amidase is controlled at least in part by SigD, i.e. that it belongs to thefra regulon and that its activity, or part of it, is co-regulated with flagellar motility. The role of the mutations conferring the Sin, Fla and Ifm phenotypes in the expression of the fytABC operon is discussed.

A y-D-glutamate-meso-diaminopimelate muropeptidase was detected in the vegetative growth phase of Bacillus subtilis 168. It is encoded by the monocistronic /ytF operon expressed b y the alternative vegetative sigma factor, crD. Sequence analysis of LytF revealed two domains, an organization common to exoproteins of B. subtilis as well as to those from other organisms. The N-terminal domain contains a f ivefold-repeated motif attributed to cell wall binding, whilst the C-terminal domain is probably endowed with the catalytic activity. Overexpression of LytF allowed its purification and biochemical characterization. Inactivation of /ytF led to the loss of the cellwall-bound protein 49' (CWBP49') and of the corresponding lytic activity as revealed by renaturation gel assay. Native cell walls prepared from the multiple /ytC /ytD /yt€ lytF-deficient mutant did not exhibit any autolysis, whereas walls prepared from a strain endowed with LytF but not with the other three enzymes underwent a slight lysis. Analysis of degradation products of cell wall devoid of teichoic-acid-bound O-esterified D-alanine unambiguously confirmed that LytF cuts the y-D-glutamate-mesodiaminopimelate bond.

The nucleotide sequence of wprA, a protease-encoding gene of Bacillus subtilis 168, is reported. The gene, expressed during the exponential growth phase, belongs to a monocistronic operon. WprA is a 96 kDa polypeptide endowed with a signal peptide, as well as a propeptide. Upon processing and export, it gives rise to two previously identified cell-wall-bound proteins, CWBP23 and 52. Processing of WprA exhibits a novel feature of protein export, whereby removal of the middle part of the molecule accompanies the targeting to the cell wall of its N-and C-terminal parts, which correspond to CWBP23 and 52, respectively. Sequence analyses and enzymic assays reveal that CWBP52 is a serine protease. Growth rate, cell morphology, sporulation and motility of wprA mutants apparently do not differ from those of the parent strain.

lytD, the structural gene of the Bacillus subtilis 168 N-acetylglucosaminidase was localized at 310 degrees, next to the tagABC operon. Sequence analysis revealed a monocistronic operon encoding a 95.6 kDa protein endowed with an export signal, the cleavage of which yields the monomer polypeptide (92.8 kDa) of the dimeric active form of the enzyme. Transcription is initiated at a sigma-D (sigma D)-dependent promoter and ends at a terminator common to lytD and the divergently transcribed tagABC operon. In addition, we report the sequence of the adjacent upstream ORF, transcribed in the same direction as lytD, which shows significant homology to phosphomannose isomerase-encoding genes. Cell separation, motility, autolysis, cell wall turnover and growth were not affected in strains devoid of the N-acetylglucosaminidase. A mutant deficient in the two most abundant autolysins, i.e. the LytC amidase and the glucosaminidase, exhibited the phenotype of the amidase-deficient strains, revealing their non-requirement for growth. This conclusion raises two fundamental questions: how does the cell undo the highly cross-linked peptidoglycan so as to be able to grow, and what is the role of the considerable amount of autolysin normally present? Possible answers to these questions are discussed.

A 30 kb DNA segment from the region of the Bacillus subtilis strain 168 chromosome which contains most, if not all, loci specifically involved in teichoic acid biosynthesis, has been cloned. A restriction map was established to which genetic markers were assigned. Four loci, tagA, tagB, gtaA and gtaD, are located on a DNA segment of about 7 kb, whereas the gtaB locus lies some 10 kb distant. The tagA and tagB loci are apparently transcribed independently. Insertional mutagenesis, using integrational plasmids carrying relevant fragments from the tag region, provides strong evidence that biosynthesis of polyglycerol phosphate [poly(groP)], so far largely considered as a dispensable polymer, is in fact essential for growth.