title: Characterization of the spoIVB and recN loci of Bacillus subtilis.
abstract: Two independent genes, recN and spoIVB, along with their respective promoter and termination regions, were discovered and sequenced in the 3.4-kilobase region between the ahrC and spoOA genes at map position 216 in the Bacillus subtilis chromosome map. The gene encoding a 576-amino-acid protein, which maintains a high homology with the Escherichia coli recN gene product, was adjacent to ahrC. The sequence revealed a 64,472-dalton polypeptide which contained a conserved ATP-binding site and possible lexA-type regulatory binding sequences in its promoter region. A second open reading frame identified as the spoIVB gene was directly downstream of recN. It consisted of 1,275 nucleotides which coded for a 425-amino-acid polypeptide with a molecular weight of 45,976. Phenotypic, genetic, and transcriptional analyses confirmed that this gene was spoIVB. Although no chloroform-resistant spores were produced by spoIVB-inactivated strains, under microscopic examination, phase-gray forespores were visible. The spoIVB165 mutation was localized to a 200-base-pair region in the amino-terminal portion of the polypeptide, spoIVB was not transcribed until hour 2 of sporulation in wild-type B. subtilis cells, as determined by beta-galactosidase activity assays from lacZ transcriptional fusion constructions. We found no amino acid sequence homology between the spoIVB gene product and other known bacterial proteins.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Experimental Medicine, Research Institute of Scripps Clinic, La Jolla, California 92037.
authors.forename: B E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Van Hoy
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Hoch
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D005809:Genes, Regulator; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology; D013728:Terminator Regions, Genetic; D014157:Transcription Factors; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D015345:Oligonucleotide Probes; C080950:Spo0A protein, Bacillus subtilis; D014157:Transcription Factors; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes; C047879:RecN protein, Bacteria