title: Mannitol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase (MtlD) is required for mannitol and glucitol assimilation in Bacillus subtilis: possible cooperation of mtl and gut operons.
abstract: We found that mannitol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase (MtlD), a component of the mannitol-specific phosphotransferase system, is required for glucitol assimilation in addition to GutR, GutB, and GutP in Bacillus subtilis. Northern hybridization of total RNA and microarray studies of RNA from cells cultured on glucose, mannitol, and glucitol indicated that mannitol as the sole carbon source induced hyperexpression of the mtl operon, whereas glucitol induced both mtl and gut operons. The B. subtilis mtl operon consists of mtlA (encoding enzyme IICBA(mt1)) and mtlD, and its transcriptional regulator gene, mtlR, is located 14.4 kb downstream from the mtl operon on the chromosome. The mtlA, mtlD, and mtlR mutants disrupted by the introduction of the pMUTin derivatives MTLAd, MTLDd, and MTLRd, respectively, could not grow normally on either mannitol or glucitol. However, the growth of MTLAd on glucitol was enhanced by IPTG (isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside). This mutant has an IPTG-inducible promoter (Pspac promoter) located in mtlA, and this site corresponds to the upstream region of mtlD. Insertion mutants of mtlD harboring the chloramphenicol resistance gene also could not grow on either mannitol or glucitol. In contrast, an insertion mutant of mtlA could grow on glucitol but not on mannitol in the presence or absence of IPTG. MtlR bound to the promoter region of the mtl operon but not to a DNA fragment containing the gut promoter region.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki 305-8572, Japan.
authors.forename: Shouji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Watanabe
authors.forename: Miyuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hamano
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kakeshita
authors.forename: Keigo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bunai
authors.forename: Shigeo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tojo
authors.forename: Hirotake
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
authors.forename: Yasutaro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fujita
authors.forename: Sui-Lam
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Kunio
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamane
mesh_terms: D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D003470:Culture Media; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D007544:Isopropyl Thiogalactoside / Q000494:pharmacology; D008353:Mannitol / Q000378:metabolism*; D009154:Mutation; D009876:Operon; D013012:Sorbitol / Q000378:metabolism*; D013401:Sugar Alcohol Dehydrogenases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D003470:Culture Media; D007544:Isopropyl Thiogalactoside; D008353:Mannitol; D013012:Sorbitol; D013401:Sugar Alcohol Dehydrogenases; C021544:mannitol-1-phosphate dehydrogenase