Competence proteins in Bacillus subtilis com mutants.
The synthesis of nucleases and proteins specific for competence development have been studied in four different Bacillus subtilis competence-deficient mutants. The nuclease analysis showed that two DNA-binding-deficient mutants were impaired in three nuclease activities involved in binding and entry of donor DNA. The other two strains did not show any reduction in nuclease activities. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis of the proteins, synthesized during competence development, revealed that all four mutants are lacking several competence-specific polypeptides. Our data show that these com mutations have a strong pleiotropic effect, which could be due to a block in the metabolic pathway leading to competence development.
D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000378:metabolism; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D003851:Deoxyribonucleases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D009154:Mutation
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D003851:Deoxyribonucleases