title: Phosphorylation induces subtle structural changes in SpoIIAA, a key regulator of sporulation.
abstract: The phosphorylation state of SpoIIAA is a key factor in the regulation of sporulation in Bacillus subtilis. Previous crystallographic studies had led to the conclusion that phosphorylation alters the binding affinity of SpoIIAA for its partner proteins solely through the additional charge and bulk of the phosphoryl group: small structural changes observed elsewhere in the protein were considered to be random fluctuations rather than the result of phosphorylation. The results presented in the present paper show that NMR studies detect the same subtle structural changes in solution as those seen in the crystal, strongly implying that they are the direct result of phosphorylation. These subtle structural changes are similar to those that occur in a non-phosphorylated mutant that is defective in binding to one of its partner proteins. We propose that the structural changes which occur in SpoIIAA on phosphorylation act in concert with the phosphoryl group to alter its binding properties.
authors.affiliation: Microbiology Unit, Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3QU, U.K.
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Clarkson
authors.forename: Iain D
authors.initials: ID
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.forename: Michael D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Yudkin
mesh_terms: D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000378:metabolism*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D006639:Histidine / Q000378:metabolism; D007700:Kinetics; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D009154:Mutation; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011487:Protein Conformation; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C030069:spore-specific proteins, Bacillus; D006639:Histidine