Nonsporulating bacterial species contain DNA sequences homologous to the Bacillus spore-specific C-protein gene.
Genes for small, acid-soluble spore proteins (SASPs) are ubiquitous among the spore-forming bacteria and are expressed only during sporulation. Although they perform the function of amino acid storage in spores, the members of the SASP-C multigene family probably serve additional functions, so that similar sequences might be present in non-spore-formers. Using the SASP-C gene (ssp-c) as a hybridization probe, restriction digests of whole genomic DNA from seven nonsporulating bacterial species were examined for similar sequences. Hybridization was found in four species: Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Neisseria sicca, and Mycobacterium phlei, indicating the presence of similar sequences in some, but not all, of the non-spore-formers. In each of these positive species, multiple bands hybridized. A 4.5-kb hybridizing fragment from S. pyogenes and a 9.0-kb hybridizing fragment from M. phlei have been cloned and partially sequenced. These fragments show substantial DNA sequence homology to ssp-c and their deduced amino acid sequences show substantial homology to SASP-C.
Vocero-Villeta
A M
AM
Biology Department, Saint Louis University, Missouri 63103.
Schilling
D M
DM
Fliss
E R
ER
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001419:Bacteria / Q000235:genetics*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D015342:DNA Probes; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D005810:Multigene Family; D009168:Mycobacterium phlei / Q000235:genetics; D009343:Neisseria / Q000235:genetics; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D012808:Sigma Factor; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000235:genetics; D013297:Streptococcus pyogenes / Q000235:genetics; D014157:Transcription Factors
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D015342:DNA Probes; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D012808:Sigma Factor; D014157:Transcription Factors; C092468:spoIIR protein, Bacillus subtilis; C030069:spore-specific proteins, Bacillus; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes