Bacillus Cereus Outgrowth “Early Proteins” and Their Possible Role in Control of Transcription

Ribonucleic acid polymerase of germinating Bacillus cereus T

“…Gene expression in germinating spores is sequentially controlled (14,16,25,28,29). Experiments of competition hybridization of Bacillus cereus deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) with ribonucleic acid (RNA) extracted at different times of germination and outgrowth (19) suggest that the control of this sequentiality is exerted at the transcriptional level. Thus, the best candidate for exerting this control is RNA-P (nucleoside triphosphate: RNA nucleotidyl transferase; EC 2.7.7.6), and since there is no functional messenger RNA in dormant spores (1,12,13,16,24), the initial protein synthesis at germination must depend on RNA-P trapped in spores at the moment of sporulation.…”