A Dispensable Role for Forespore-Specific Gene Expression in Engulfment of the Forespore during Sporulation of Bacillus subtilis

Author:

Sun Ya-Lin1,Sharp Marc D.1,Pogliano Kit1

Affiliation:

1. Department of Biology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0349

Abstract

ABSTRACT During the stage of engulfment in the Bacillus subtilis spore formation pathway, the larger mother cell engulfs the smaller forespore. We have tested the role of forespore-specific gene expression in engulfment using two separate approaches. First, using an assay that unambiguously detects sporangia that have completed engulfment, we found that a mutant lacking the only forespore-expressed engulfment protein identified thus far, SpoIIQ, is able to efficiently complete engulfment under certain sporulation conditions. However, we have found that the mutant is defective, under all conditions, in the expression of the late-forespore-specific transcription factor ς G ; thus, SpoIIQ is essential for spore production. Second, to determine if engulfment could proceed in the absence of forespore-specific gene expression, we made use of a strain in which activation of the mother cell-specific sigma factor ς E was uncoupled from forespore-specific gene expression. Remarkably, engulfment occurred in the complete absence of ς F -directed gene expression under the same conditions permissive for engulfment in the absence of SpoIIQ. Our results demonstrate that forespore-specific gene expression is not essential for engulfment, suggesting that the machinery used to move the membranes around the forespore is within the mother cell.

Publisher

American Society for Microbiology

Subject

Molecular Biology,Microbiology

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