title: The developmental fate of S. coelicolor hyphae depends upon a gene product homologous with the motility sigma factor of B. subtilis.
abstract: In the mycelial prokaryote S. coelicolor, whiG is a gene dispensable for growth but needed for the earliest stages of spore formation in aerial hyphae. Nucleotide sequencing indicates that whiG encodes an RNA polymerase sigma factor highly similar to the motility sigma factor (sigma 28) of B. subtilis. High copy number of an intact whiG gene caused sporulation in vegetative hyphae that are usually fated to lyse without sporulating. However, the introduction of many copies of a sigma 28-dependent promoter from B. subtilis into S. coelicolor reduced sporulation, suggesting partial sequestration of the whiG gene product by the foreign promoter sequences. We propose that the level of whiG sigma factor is crucial in determining the developmental fate of hyphae.
authors.affiliation: John Innes Institute, Norwich, England.
authors.forename: K F
authors.initials: KF
authors.lastname: Chater
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Bruton
authors.forename: K A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Plaskitt
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Buttner
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Méndez
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Helmann
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000096:biosynthesis; D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002630:Chemotactic Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases / Q000235:genetics; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010957:Plasmids; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D012808:Sigma Factor; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology; D013302:Streptomyces / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development*
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D002630:Chemotactic Factors; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D012808:Sigma Factor; C061314:whiG protein, Streptomyces coelicolor; D012321:DNA-Directed RNA Polymerases