Precise deletion of tagD and controlled depletion of its product, glycerol 3-phosphate cytidylyltransferase, leads to irregular morphology and lysis of Bacillus subtilis grown at physiological temperature.
Using a previously reported conditional expression system for use in Bacillus subtilis (A. P. Bhavsar, X. Zhao, and E. D. Brown, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 67:403-410, 2001), we report the first precise deletion of a teichoic acid biosynthesis (tag) gene, tagD, in B. subtilis. This teichoic acid mutant showed a lethal phenotype when characterized at a physiological temperature and in a defined genetic background. This tagD mutant was subject to full phenotypic rescue upon expression of the complementing copy of tagD. Depletion of the tagD gene product (glycerol 3-phosphate cytidylyltransferase) via modulated expression of tagD from the amyE locus revealed structural defects centered on shape, septation, and division. Thickening of the wall and ultimately lysis followed these events.
Bhavsar
A P
AP
Antimicrobial Research Centre, Department of Biochemistry, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8N 3Z5.
Beveridge
T J
TJ
Brown
E D
ED
D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000166:cytology / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D002455:Cell Division; D002473:Cell Wall; D016254:Mutagenesis, Insertional; D009713:Nucleotidyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism*; D010544:Peroxidases; D013696:Temperature
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D010544:Peroxidases; C089974:TagD protein, Vibrio cholerae; D009713:Nucleotidyltransferases; C020675:glycerol-3-phosphate cytidylyltransferase