Altered chemotaxis of Bacillus sphaericus l‐ethionine‐resistant sporulation mutant A probable link between chemotaxis and sporulation

FEBS Letters

Andreev, J.¹  Braun, S.¹  Dibrov, P.A.¹ 

[1] Department of Biological Chemistry, A. Silberman Institute of Life Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91904, Israel

关键词: Chemotaxis;    Sporulation;    Regulation;    Mutant;    Revertant;    l-Ethionine;    Methyl-accepting chemotaxis protein;    Bacillus sphaericus;    EDTA;    ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid;    MCP;    methyl- accepting chemotaxis protein;    APBA;    4-aminophenylboronic acid;    CFU;    colony-forming units;   

DOI  :  10.1016/0014-5793(94)00539-7

学科分类：生物化学/生物物理

来源: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

【 摘 要 】

A UV irradiation-induced mutant of Bacillus sphaericus 2362 whose sporulation was inhibited neither by natural amino acids nor by l-ethionine was selected. The mutant (A61) grew slowly in rich amino acid medium and contained increased concentrations of heat-resistant spores throughout the growth. Slow growth of A61 was related to continuous presence of aging and sporulating cells even when the medium was rich in nutrients. Ability of the mutant to sense nutrient presence in the environment and to relate this information to systems regulating the switch from vegetative growth to sporulation seem to be damaged. A61 also demonstrated impaired chemotaxis. In contrast to the parent strain, only few amino acids elicited chemotactic response in A61. Methylation of the A61 methyl-accepting chemotaxis protein(s) was lower than that of the parent strain by one order of magnitude. Spontaneous fast-growing phenotypic revertants of A61 displayed sporulation behavior characteristic of B. sphaericus 2362. Their chemotaxis to amino acids was considerably improved. To some amino acids, it proved to be even stronger than in the original strain, B. sphaericus 2362. It is suggested, that methyl transfer events originating in the chemotactic system are involved in the triggering of sporulation, the A61 mutation being located in this signalling pathway.

【 授权许可】

Unknown