title: Morphogenic Protein RodZ Interacts with Sporulation Specific SpoIIE in Bacillus subtilis.
abstract: The first landmark in sporulation of Bacillus subtilis is the formation of an asymmetric septum followed by selective activation of the transcription factor σF in the resulting smaller cell. How the morphological transformations that occur during sporulation are coupled to cell-specific activation of transcription is largely unknown. The membrane protein SpoIIE is a constituent of the asymmetric sporulation septum and is a crucial determinant of σF activation. Here we report that the morphogenic protein, RodZ, which is essential for cell shape determination, is additionally required for asymmetric septum formation and sporulation. In cells depleted of RodZ, formation of asymmetric septa is disturbed and σF activation is perturbed. During sporulation, we found that SpoIIE recruits RodZ to the asymmetric septum. Moreover, we detected a direct interaction between SpoIIE and RodZ in vitro and in vivo, indicating that SpoIIE-RodZ may form a complex to coordinate asymmetric septum formation and σF activation. We propose that RodZ could provide a link between the cell shape machinery and the coordinated morphological and developmental transitions required to form a resistant spore.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Biology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Katarína
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Muchová
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Biology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Zuzana
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chromiková
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America.
authors.forename: Niels
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Bradshaw
authors.affiliation: Structural Biology Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of York, York, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Anthony J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Wilkinson
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Biology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Bratislava, Slovakia.
authors.forename: Imrich
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3690-404X
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Barák
mesh_terms: D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000378:metabolism*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D048430:Cell Shape / Q000502:physiology; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; C030069:spore-specific proteins, Bacillus