Selective Pressure for Biofilm Formation in Bacillus subtilis: Differential Effect of Mutations in the Master Regulator SinR on Bistability

Kampf, Jan; Gerwig, Jan; Kruse, Kerstin; Cleverley, Robert M.; Dormeyer, Miriam; Grünberger, Alexander; Kohlheyer, Dietrich; Commichau, Fabian M.; Lewis, Richard J.; Stülke, Jörg

doi:10.1128/mbio.01464-18

Cited by 31 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 43 publications

(85 reference statements)

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“…As expected, the wild type strain DK1042 formed structured colonies that are indicative of biofilm formation. In contrast, the negative control GP2559 (a ymdB mutant that is known to be defective in biofilm formation, Kampf et al, 2018) formed completely smooth colonies. The biofilm formed by the ytrA mutant GP3212 was less structured, more translucent and with only some tiny wrinkles on its surface, indicating that biofilm formation was inhibited but not fully abolished upon loss of YtrA.…”

Section: Overexpression Of the Ytrgabcdef Operon Leads To Defect In Bmentioning

confidence: 99%

The YtrBCDEF ABC transporter is involved in the control of social activities in Bacillus subtilis

Benda

Schulz

Rismondo

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Bacillus subtilis develops genetic competence for the uptake of foreign DNA when cells enter the stationary phase and a high cell density is reached. These signals are integrated by the competence transcription factor ComK which is subject to transcriptional, post-transcriptional and post-translational regulation. Many proteins are involved in the development of competence, both to control ComK activity and to mediate DNA uptake. However, the precise function they play in competence development is often unknown. In this study, we have tested whether proteins required for genetic transformation play a role in the activation of ComK or rather downstream of competence gene expression. While these possibilities could be distinguished for most of the tested factors, two proteins (PNPase and the transcription factor YtrA) are required both for full ComK activity and for the downstream processes of DNA uptake and integration. Further analyses of the role of the transcription factor YtrA for the competence development revealed that the constitutive expression of the YtrBCDEF ABC transporter in the ytrA mutant causes the loss of genetic competence. Moreover, constitutive expression of this ABC transporter also interferes with biofilm formation. Since the ytrGABCDEF operon is induced by cell wall-targeting antibiotics, we tested the cell wall properties upon overexpression of the ABC transporter and observed an increased thickness of the cell wall. The composition and properties of the cell wall are important for competence development and biofilm formation, suggesting that the increased cell wall thickness as a result of YtrBCDEF overexpression causes the observed phenotypes.

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Section: Overexpression Of the Ytrgabcdef Operon Leads To Defect In Bmentioning

confidence: 99%

The YtrBCDEF ABC transporter is involved in the control of social activities in Bacillus subtilis

Benda

Schulz

Rismondo

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…Recent work by Kampf et al ( 4 ) explored the mechanisms underlying B. subtilis bet hedging with respect to biofilm formation versus flagellum-mediated swimming motility. Biofilm formation requires the expression of gene operons that contribute to polysaccharide synthesis and deposition of amyloid fibers ( 5 ).…”

Section: Commentarymentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacillus subtilis Biofilms: a Matter of Individual Choice

Ryan-Payseur

Freitag

2018

mBio

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“…Bacterial “collective” behaviors of single cells have evolved to adapt to their harsh environments and have been identified as a result of recent progress in single-cell analysis ( Veening et al, 2008 ; Bury-Moné and Sclavi, 2017 ). A growing number of examples show these behaviors ( Kröger et al, 2011 ; Afroz et al, 2014 ; Kotte et al, 2014 ; Solopova et al, 2014 ; Norman et al, 2015 ; Leh et al, 2017 ; Kampf et al, 2018 ; Weiss et al, 2019 ). Heterogeneous expression of genes and proteins often leads to phenotypic heterogeneity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bacillus subtilis Nucleoid-Associated Protein YlxR Is Involved in Bimodal Expression of the Fructoselysine Utilization Operon (frlBONMD-yurJ) Promoter

2020

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Bacteria must survive harsh environmental fluctuations at times and have evolved several strategies. "Collective" behaviors have been identified due to recent progress in single-cell analysis. Since most bacteria exist as single cells, bacterial populations are often considered clonal. However, accumulated evidence suggests this is not the case. Gene expression and protein expression are often not homogeneous, resulting in phenotypic heterogeneity. In extreme cases, this leads to bistability, the existence of two stable states. In many cases, expression of key master regulators is bimodal via positive feedback loops causing bimodal expression of the target genes. We observed bimodal expression of metabolic genes for alternative carbon sources. Expression profiles of the frlBONMD-yurJ operon driven by the frlB promoter (PfrlB), which encodes degradation enzymes and a transporter for amino sugars including fructoselysine, were investigated using transcriptional lacZ and gfp, and translational fluorescence reporter mCherry fusions. Disruption effects of genes encoding CodY, FrlR, RNaseY, and nucleoidassociated protein YlxR, four known regulatory factors for PfrlB, were examined for expression of each fusion construct. Expression of PfrlB-gfp and PfrlB-mCherry, which were located at amyE and its original locus, respectively, was bimodal; and disruption of ylxR resulted in the disappearance of the clear bimodal expression pattern in flow cytometric analyses. This suggested a role for YlxR on the bimodal expression of PfrlB. The data indicated that YlxR acted on the bimodal expression of PfrlB through both transcription and translation. YlxR regulates many genes, including those related to translation, supporting the above notion. Depletion of RNaseY abolished heterogenous expression of transcriptional PfrlB-gfp but not bimodal expression of translational PfrlB-mCherry, suggesting the role of RNaseY in regulation of the operon through mRNA stability control and regulatory mechanism for PfrlB-mCherry at the translational level. Based on these results, we discuss the meaning and possible cause of bimodal PfrlB expression.

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Selective Pressure for Biofilm Formation in Bacillus subtilis: Differential Effect of Mutations in the Master Regulator SinR on Bistability

Cited by 31 publications

References 43 publications

The YtrBCDEF ABC transporter is involved in the control of social activities in Bacillus subtilis

The YtrBCDEF ABC transporter is involved in the control of social activities in Bacillus subtilis

Bacillus subtilis Biofilms: a Matter of Individual Choice

Bacillus subtilis Nucleoid-Associated Protein YlxR Is Involved in Bimodal Expression of the Fructoselysine Utilization Operon (frlBONMD-yurJ) Promoter

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