title: Phosphate starvation induces the sporulation killing factor of Bacillus subtilis.
abstract: Bacillus subtilis produces and exports a peptide sporulation killing factor (SkfA) that induces lysis of sibling cells. skfA is part of the skf operon (skfA-H), which is responsible for immunity to SkfA, as well as for production and export of SkfA. Here we report that transcription of skfA is markedly induced when cells of B. subtilis are subjected to phosphate starvation. The role of PhoP in regulation of the skf operon was confirmed by in vitro gel shift assays, which showed that this operon is a new member of the PhoP regulon. A putative stem-loop structure in the skfA-skfB intergenic region is proposed to act as a stabilizer of an skfA-specific transcript.
authors.affiliation: School of Biology and Physcology, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4HH, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Nicholas E E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Allenby
authors.forename: Carys A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Watts
authors.forename: Georg
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Homuth
authors.forename: Zoltán
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Prágai
authors.forename: Anil
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wipat
authors.forename: Alan C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Ward
authors.forename: Colin R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Harwood
mesh_terms: D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D017931:DNA Primers; D017930:Genes, Reporter; D007700:Kinetics; D010710:Phosphates / Q000172:deficiency*; D010957:Plasmids; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D017931:DNA Primers; D010710:Phosphates; C115343:spo0M protein, Bacillus subtilis