GerE-independent expression of cotH leads to CotC accumulation in the mother cell compartment during Bacillus subtilis sporulation.
Evidence is presented that expression of the cotH gene, whose product is required for the correct assembly of the Bacillus subtilis spore coat, is negatively controlled by the transcriptional regulator GerE. Mutations in the GerE-box, present in the cotH promoter region, increased expression of this gene, which also remained elevated during late stages of sporulation, when in wild-type cells cotH is normally turned off. Such alterations of cotH expression did not significantly affect spore coat structure or function but caused the accumulation of CotC molecules in the mother cell compartment, most likely as a consequence of CotH-mediated protection of CotC.
Dipartimento di Fisiologia Generale ed Ambientale, Università Federico II, via Mezzocannone 16, 80134 Naples, Italy.
Loredana
L
Baccigalupi
Gaetano
G
Castaldo
Giuseppina
G
Cangiano
Rachele
R
Isticato
Rosangela
R
Marasco
Maurilio
M
De Felice
Ezio
E
Ricca
D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000378:metabolism*
D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C101016:CotH protein, Bacillus subtilis; C030069:spore-specific proteins, Bacillus