Characterization of a Bacillus anthracis spore coat-surface protein that influences coat-surface morphology.
Bacterial spores are encased in a multilayered proteinaceous shell, called the coat. In many Bacillus spp., the coat protects against environmental assault and facilitates germination. In Bacillus anthracis, the spore is the etiological agent of anthrax, and the functions of the coat likely contribute to virulence. Here, we characterize a B. anthracis spore protein, called Cotbeta, which is encoded only in the genomes of the Bacillus cereus group. We found that Cotbeta is synthesized specifically during sporulation and is assembled onto the spore coat surface. Our analysis of a cotbeta null mutant in the Sterne strain reveals that Cotbeta has a role in determining coat-surface morphology but does not detectably affect germination. In the fully virulent Ames strain, a cotbeta null mutation has no effect on virulence in a murine model of B. anthracis infection.
Mallozzi
Michael
M
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, IL, USA.
Bozue
Joel
J
Giorno
Rebecca
R
Moody
Krishna-Sulayman
KS
Slack
Alex
A
Cote
Christopher
C
Qiu
Dengli
D
Wang
Rong
R
McKenney
Peter
P
Lai
Erh-Min
EM
Maddock
Janine R
JR
Friedlander
Arthur
A
Welkos
Susan
S
Eichenberger
Patrick
P
Driks
Adam
A
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000881:Anthrax / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000401:mortality; D001408:Bacillus anthracis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity* / Q000502:physiology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000648:ultrastructure
D001426:Bacterial Proteins