Open AccessCoupling between gene expression and DNA synthesis early during development in Bacillus subtilis.
Author(s) -
Keith Ireton,
Alan D. Grossman
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.89.18.8808
Subject(s) - bacillus subtilis , biology , gene , dna , dna synthesis , transcription (linguistics) , gene expression , transcription factor , regulation of gene expression , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , bacteria , linguistics , philosophy
Endospore formation in the bacterium Bacillus subtilis involves generation of two cell types, each with different developmental fates. Each cell type contains an active chromosome, and treatments that inhibit DNA synthesis at the beginning of development inhibit spore formation. We describe experiments demonstrating that gene expression early during sporulation is coupled to DNA synthesis. Expression of several genes that are induced early during sporulation, before the formation of two cell types, is inhibited when DNA synthesis is inhibited. Genes that are affected require the transcription factor encoded by spo0A for normal induction. Spo0A protein is normally activated early in development by a multicomponent phosphorylation pathway, or phospho-relay. Altered function mutations in spo0A that bypass the need for the phospho-relay allow early sporulation gene expression, even when DNA synthesis is inhibited. These results indicate that inhibition of DNA synthesis prevents activation of the Spo0A transcription factor by inhibiting a step in the phospho-relay. It seems likely that coupling early developmental gene expression to DNA synthesis is a general mechanism to prevent inappropriate or unnecessary gene expression.