title: The comER Gene Plays an Important Role in Biofilm Formation and Sporulation in both Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus cereus.
abstract: Bacteria adopt alternative cell fates during development. In Bacillus subtilis, the transition from planktonic growth to biofilm formation and sporulation is controlled by a complex regulatory circuit, in which the most important event is activation of Spo0A, a transcription factor and a master regulator for genes involved in both biofilm formation and sporulation. In B. cereus, the regulatory pathway controlling biofilm formation and cell differentiation is much less clear. In this study, we show that a novel gene, comER, plays a significant role in biofilm formation as well as sporulation in both B. subtilis and B. cereus. Mutations in the comER gene result in defects in biofilm formation and a delay in spore formation in the two Bacillus species. Our evidence supports the idea that comER may be part of the regulatory circuit that controls Spo0A activation. comER likely acts upstream of sda, a gene encoding a small checkpoint protein for both sporulation and biofilm formation, by blocking the phosphor-relay and thereby Spo0A activation. In summary, our studies outlined a conserved, positive role for comER, a gene whose function was previously uncharacterized, in the regulation of biofilm formation and sporulation in the two Bacillus species.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology, Nanjing Agricultural University, NanjingChina; Department of Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, MAUSA.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology, Nanjing Agricultural University, NanjingChina; Department of Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, MAUSA.
authors.forename: Yiyang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing China.
authors.forename: Luyao
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Jiangsu Collaborative Center of Regional Modern Agriculture and Environmental Protection, Nanjing China.
authors.forename: Yuming
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology, Nanjing Agricultural University, NanjingChina; Jiangsu Collaborative Center of Regional Modern Agriculture and Environmental Protection, NanjingChina; Engineering Center of Bioresource Pesticide in Jiangsu Province, Key Laboratory of Integrated Management of Crop Diseases and Pests, NanjingChina.
authors.forename: Jian-Hua
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA USA.
authors.forename: Yunrong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Chai
keywords: Bacillus cereus; Bacillus subtilis; ComER; Sda; biofilm