Identification of sporulation genes by genome-wide analysis of the σ E regulon of Bacillus subtilis

Abstract

Differentiation in the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus subtilis is governed by the sequential activation of five sporulation-specific transcription factors. The early mother-cell-specific transcription factor, s E , directs the transcription of many genes that contribute to the formation of mature, dormant spores. In this study, DNA microarrays were used to identify genes belonging to the s E regulon. In total, 171 genes were found to be under the control of s E . Of these, 101 genes had not previously been described as being s E dependent. Disruption of some of the previously unknown genes ( ydcC, yhaL, yhbH, yjaV and yqfD) resulted in a defect in sporulation.

Genome-wide analysis of temporally regulated and compartment-specific gene expression in sporulating cells of Bacillus subtilis

“…This role has been inferred through the identification and analysis of s E -dependent metabolic operons, such as mmg and exu (see also above). Our results, as well as those of Eichenberger et al (2003) and Feucht et al (2003), strengthen this view, through the finding of a large number of genes which could influence metabolism in the mother cell. These include, for example, the genes for acyl-CoA dehydrogenase (acdA), butyrate-acetoacetate CoA transferase (yodR) and 3-oxoadipate CoA transferase (yodS), long-chain acyl-CoA synthetase and AMP-binding enzymes (yng operon), malate dehydrogenase (yjmC), and a sugar dehydrogenase (ywqF), among others (Supplementary Table S2).…”

“…Moreover, in addition to SpoIIID and, hypothetically, to YlbO, the expression of some s Edependent genes may be influenced by other factors. Several known or putative transcriptional regulators have been assigned to the s E regulon: purR, encoding the repressor of the purine operons; birA, a biotin acetyl-CoA-carboxylase synthetase and transcriptional regulator (Eichenberger et al, 2003); yhgD (TetR/AcrR family) and ytzE (DeoR family) (Feucht et al, 2003). Note, however, that none of these four genes could be assigned to the s E regulon under our experimental conditions ( Fig.…”

“…Newly identified members of the four sporulation regulons are displayed outside the circles. For the s E regulon, the display also contains genes previously reported by Eichenberger et al (2003): genes displayed outside without any additional label were discovered in this study only, genes that are underlined were reported in the studies of Eichenberger et al (2003) only, and those marked with an additional asterisk were discovered in this study and one of the two previous publications (Eichenberger et al, 2003;Feucht et al, 2003). For the display of the s E , s G and s K regulons, sections of the chromosome displaying a particularly high density of sporulation genes are enlarged to increase visibility.…”

“…Disruption of 12 of the newly identified genes produced a sporulation phenotype (Eichenberger et al, 2003). Feucht et al (2003) have found a total of 171 s Edependent transcripts, 101 of which were previously unknown, and of these, mutations in about 10 diminished the efficiency of sporulation.…”

FisB mediates membrane fission during sporulation in Bacillus subtilis

“…The first mother cell-specific transcription factor that is induced during sporulation is the alternative s factor s E (Stragier and Losick 1996;Piggot and Losick 2002). The s E regulon has been defined by transcriptional profiling (Eichenberger et al 2003;Feucht et al 2003;Steil et al 2005), and strains harboring deletions in most of the genes in the regulon have been generated (Eichenberger et al 2003). Using the criteria described above, we examined a subset of this ordered library of mutants using the fluorescent membrane fission assay of Sharp and Pogliano (1999).…”