title: Cell motility and biofilm formation in Bacillus subtilis are affected by the ribosomal proteins, S11 and S21.
abstract: Bacillus subtilis differentiates into various cellular states in response to environmental changes. It exists in two states during the exponential growth phase: motile cells and connected chains of sessile cells. Here, we identified new regulators of cell motility and chaining, the ribosomal proteins S21 (rpsU) and S11 (rpsK). Their mutants showed impaired cell motility (observed in a laboratory strain) and robust biofilm formation (observed in an undomesticated strain). The two major operons for biofilm formation, tapA-sipW-tasA and epsA-O, were strongly expressed in the rpsU mutant, whereas the flagellin-encoding hag gene and other SigD-dependent motility regulons were not. Genetic analysis revealed that the mutation of remA, the transcriptional activator of the eps operon, is epistatic to that of rpsU, whereas the mutation of antagonistic regulators of SinR is not. Our studies demonstrate that S11 and S21 participate in the regulation of bistability via the RemA/RemB pathway.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Bioscience , Tokyo University of Agriculture , Tokyo , Japan.
authors.forename: Hiraku
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Takada
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morita
authors.forename: Yuh
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shiwa
authors.forename: Ryoma
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sugimoto
authors.forename: Shota
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Fujio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kawamura
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yoshikawa
mesh_terms: D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000166:cytology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D018441:Biofilms / Q000254:growth & development*; D009154:Mutation; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic / Q000235:genetics; D012269:Ribosomal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D012269:Ribosomal Proteins; C045454:ribosomal protein S11; C032643:ribosomal protein S21
keywords: Bacillus subtilis; RpsU; SigD; ribosomal protein