title: Influence of Bacillus subtilis phoR on cell wall anionic polymers.
abstract: In Bacillus subtilis the Pho regulon is controlled by a sensor and regulator protein pair, PhoR and PhoP, that respond to phosphate concentrations. To facilitate studies of the Pho regulon, a strain with an altered PhoR protein was isolated by in vitro mutagenesis. The mutation in this strain (phoR12) leads to the production of a PhoR sensor kinase that, unlike the wild-type, is functionally active in phosphate-replete conditions. The lesion in PhoR12 was shown to be a single base change that results in an Arg to Ser substitution in a region of PhoR that is highly conserved in histidine sensor kinases. While a phoR-negative mutant was unable to induce the synthesis of cell wall teichuronic acid under phosphate-limited conditions, the phoR12 mutant showed a relative increase in teichuronic acid and a decrease in teichoic acid, even under phosphate-replete conditions. The latter suggests that some or all of the genes required for teichuronic acid synthesis are members of the Pho regulon.
authors.affiliation: School of Microbiological, Immunological and Virological Sciences, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK.
authors.forename: Jörg P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Müler
authors.affiliation: School of Microbiological, Immunological and Virological Sciences, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK.
authors.forename: Zhidong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: An
authors.affiliation: School of Microbiological, Immunological and Virological Sciences, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK.
authors.forename: Tarek
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Merad
authors.affiliation: School of Microbiological, Immunological and Virological Sciences, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK.
authors.forename: Ian C
authors.initials: IC
authors.lastname: Hancock
authors.affiliation: School of Microbiological, Immunological and Virological Sciences, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, UK.
authors.forename: Colin R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Harwood
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000838:Anions; D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000378:metabolism*; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D011108:Polymers / Q000378:metabolism*; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D000838:Anions; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D011108:Polymers; C061278:PhoB protein, Bacteria