title: Cloning, nucleotide sequencing, and genetic mapping of the gene for small, acid-soluble spore protein gamma of Bacillus subtilis.
abstract: The Bacillus subtilis gene (sspE) which codes for small acid-soluble spore protein gamma (SASP-gamma) was cloned, and its chromosomal location (65 degrees, linked to glpD) and nucleotide sequence were determined. The amino acid sequence of SASP-gamma is similar to that of SASP-B of Bacillus megaterium, but these sequences are not as highly conserved across species as are those of other SASPs. The SASP-gamma gene is transcribed only in sporulation in parallel with other SASP genes and gives a single mRNA that is approximately 340 nucleotides long. The results of hybridization of an sspE gene probe to Southern blots of B. subtilis DNA suggested that there is only a single gene coding for the SASP-gamma type of protein in B. subtilis. This was confirmed by introducing a deletion mutation into the cloned sspE gene and transferring the deletion into the B. subtilis chromosome, with concomitant loss of the wild-type gene. This sspE deletion strain sporulated well, but lacked the SASP-gamma type of protein.
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000235:genetics*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D005796:Genes; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D013171:Spores, Bacterial
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial