Cloning and dependence pattern of the sporulation operon spoVH

Activity of mutant sigma F proteins truncated near the C terminus

sigma F, the product of the spoIIAC gene of Bacillus subtilis, is homologous in amino acid sequence throughout most of its length with several other sigma factors of B. subtilis and Escherichia coli. However, 8 residues from the C terminus the homology abruptly breaks down, suggesting that the C-terminal tail of the protein may be dispensable. It is known that an amber mutation at the 11th codon (wild-type glutamine 245) from the C terminus abolishes the function of the sigma factor. We have now placed chain-terminating codons at the ninth codon (wild-type lysine 247), the eighth codon (wild-type valine 248), or the seventh codon (wild-type glutamine 249) from the C terminus. We have tested the resulting mutants for their capacity to sporulate and for their ability to transcribe from a promoter (spoIIIG) that is normally read by RNA polymerase bound to sigma F (E sigma F). The results indicate that a mutant sigma F lacking the terminal 7 residues functions almost normally, which suggests that glutamine 249 is dispensable. By contrast, lysine 247 is crucial for the activity of sigma F: deletion of the 9 C-terminal residues totally inactivates the protein. When the terminal 8 residues were deleted, placing lysine 247 at the C terminus, the transcriptional activity of the factor is reduced by about 80%: we attribute this effect to neutralization of the positive charge of lysine 247 by formation of a salt bridge with the -COO- terminus.

Characterization of the Bacillus subtilis sporulation gene spoVK

The sporulation gene spoVK of Bacillus subtilis was cloned by use of the insertional mutation spoVK::Tn917 omega HU8. The spoVK gene was shown to be the site of an incorrectly mapped mutation called spoVJ517. Thus, a separate spoVJ gene as defined by the 517 mutation does not exist and is instead identical with spoVK.

Chromosome strand segregation during sporulation in Bacillus subtilis

After the initiation of spore formation in Bacillus subtilis, the products of the final round of DNA replication segregate into two cells, i.e. the prespore and the mother cell. The prespore, which is known to contain a single completed chromosome, develops into a mature endospore which can be readily separated from mother cells and non-sporulating cells on the basis of its resistance properties. We have used a procedure originally developed to label the terminus region of the B. subtilis chromosome to specifically label the newly synthesized strands of DNA during the final round of DNA replication before sporulation. We have purified prespore DNA and used strand-specific probes to measure the radioactivity incorporated. The results show that the sister chromosomes segregate at random into the prespore. This result has implications for the segregation of chromosomes during vegetative growth and for the generation of cellular asymmetry during sporulation.

Use of integrational plasmid excision to identify cellular localization of gene expression during sporulation in Bacillus subtilis

Sporulation in Bacillus subtilis is a simple developmental system involving the differentiation of two sister cells, the prespore and the mother cell. Many of the genes that regulate sporulation (spo genes) are thought to be expressed differentially. However, direct demonstration of differential gene expression, by fractionation of prespore and mother cell proteins, is possible only at a relatively late stage of development. H. De Lencastre and P. J. Piggot (J. Gen. Microbiol. 114:377-389, 1979) have described a genetic method for determining the cellular location of the requirement for spo gene expression. Here we describe a similar method based on the use of integrational plasmids that can insertionally inactivate any given spo gene. Loss of the integrated plasmid by homologous recombination leads to the restoration of spo gene function. If this occurs just before sporulation begins, the phenotypes of the progeny of heat-resistant spores should depend on whether the gene is required in the prespore or the mother cell. Thus, we show that for known prespore-specific genes, such as spoIIIG and spoVA, only phenotypically Spo+ progeny that have lost the integrated plasmid are produced. In contrast, for mother-cell-specific genes, such as spoIIIC and spoVJ, a substantial proportion of the progeny are asporogenous, having retained the integrated plasmid. On the basis of our results, the spoIID and spoIIIA genes, which are expressed soon after division, appear to be required only in the mother cell compartment.

The spoIIIA locus is not a major determinant of prespore-specific gene expression during sporulation in Bacillus subtilis

During sporulation in Bacillus subtilis, expression of several prespore-specific genes is strongly dependent on the spoIIIE and spoIIIG gene products. Previous reports have also indicated a requirement for the products of the spoIIIA locus. However, we have now systematically studied six different well-defined spoIIIA mutations and find that, relative to spoIIIE and spoIIIG mutations, they have only a minor effect on the expression of two different prespore-specific genes, spoVA and sspA. Moreover, we have shown that strain IS37, which has been used as a spoIIIA mutant in several previous studies, actually contains a lesion in the spo0A gene. We conclude that spoIIIA has a relatively minor or indirect role in the regulation of prespore-specific gene expression.

The role of the sporulation gene spoIIIE in the regulation of prespore-specific gene expression in Bacillus subtilis

The spoIIIG gene encodes a sigma factor that determines prespore-specific gene expression during sporulation in Bacillus subtilis. Correct spatial and temporal expression of the spoIIIG gene depends on a number of other sporulation (spo) genes, but only one of these genes, spoIIIE, has a specific effect on spoIIIG expression and not on gene expression in the other differentiating cell, the mother cell. However, the spoIIIE gene is expressed predominantly before differentiation begins. Thus, its product must play an important role in sensing or determining the spatial localization of prespore-specific gene expression in this system.

Differential gene expression during sporulation in Bacillus subtilis: regulation of the spoVJ gene

The process of spore formation in the Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis is a simple developmental system controlled by 50 or more genes. The complex pattern of regulatory interactions between these genes is beginning to be elucidated. spoVJ is a poorly characterized locus in which mutations affect spore development at a relatively late stage (Stage V). We have now cloned and physically characterized the spoVJ locus, and analysed its expression by lacZ fusion. Expression of spoVJ is temporally delayed until about two hours after the initiation of sporulation. Its expression is also spatially restricted to the mother cell compartment; as such, it represents the earliest known mother-cell-specific event. Control of spoVJ transcription is complex: expression is dependent upon the products of all of the spoO genes and on some of the spoII genes but it is independent of all later genes except spoIIID. As spoIIID mutations do not affect prespore development, this gene must be an important early determinant of mother-cell-specific gene expression.