Early-blocked asporogenous mutants of Bacillus subtilis are lysogenized at reduced frequency by temperate bacteriophages

Abstract

The establishment of lysogeny in early-blocked asporogenous (Spo-) mutants of Bacillus subtilis 168, which were also defective in the production of antibiotics

Genetic evidence for possible interaction between a ribonucleic acid polymerase subunit and the spo0C gene product of Bacillus subtilis

“…spoOA mutations are pleiotropic for many properties associated with sporulation, such as the ability to be transformed with exogenous DNA, the sensitivity to bacteriophage 42 and 415, and the production of antibiotics (5,12,20,22). We reported recently another phenotypic character of spoOA and spoOB mutants; that is, the frequency of lysogenization by temperate bacteriophages is reduced to 10 to 20% that of wild-type strain 168 (9).…”

Genetic analysis of spo0A and spo0C mutants of Bacillus subtilis with a phi 105 prophage merodiploid system

“…These results suggest that an excess amount of the spoOA gene product inhibits the vegetative growth of B. subtilis, whereas an adequate amount of the active spoOA product at the wild-type level is essential for sporulation. A number of workers have reported that spoOA mutants have several properties different from those of the wild-type strain even in the vegetative-growth phase (2,5,16,18,25). Further studies are necessary to elucidate the expression and function of the spoOA gene in switching the cells from the vegetative state to begin sporulation.…”

“…Production of antibiotics. The ability to produce antibiotics was determined as described previously (16), except that the spoOA mutant 1S9 or SR22 was used as an indicator strain.…”

“…Transformation of B. subtilis. Transformation experiments were carried out as described previously (16). For selection of Spo+ transformants, competent cells were mixed with DNA and inoculated in 2 x Schaeffer medium.…”

“…The initiation of sporulation in Bacillus subtilis requires the presence of at least nine spoO genes, mutations which block the sporulation at stage 0 (8,11,28). Among them, the two mutations spoOA and spoOC map closely on the chromosome (16,28), but the former is more pleiotropic than the latter in many properties associated with sporulation, such as competence for genetic transformation and the production of antibiotics (17,30). We previously reported that the introduction of a rif mutation into a spoOC mutant resulted in the conversion of the SpoOC phenotype to SpoOA (14).…”