Open AccessEffect of depletion of FtsY on spore morphology and the protein composition of the spore coat layer in Bacillus subtilis
Author(s) -
Kakeshita Hiroshi,
Takamatsu Hiromu,
Amikura Reiko,
Nakamura Kouji,
Watabe Kazuhito,
Yamane Kunio
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
fems microbiology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.899
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1574-6968
pISSN - 0378-1097
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-6968.2001.tb10495.x
Subject(s) - spore , bacillus subtilis , mutant , biology , protein subunit , wild type , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , bacteria , genetics , gene
Bacillus subtilis FtsY is a homolog of the α‐subunit of mammalian signal recognition particle (SRP) receptor, and is essential for protein translocation and vegetative cell growth. An FtsY conditional null mutant (strain ISR39) can express ftsY during the vegetative stage but not during spore formation. Spores of ISR39 have the same resistance to heat and chloroform as the wild‐type, while their resistance to lysozyme is reduced. Electron microscopy showed that the outer coat of spores was incompletely assembled. The coat protein profile of the ftsY mutant spores was different from that of wild‐type spores. The amounts of CotA, and CotE were reduced in spore coat proteins of ftsY mutant spores and the molecular mass of CotB was reduced. In addition, CotA, CotB, and CotE are present in normal form at T 8 of sporulation in ftsY mutant cells. These results suggest that FtsY has a pivotal role in assembling coat proteins onto the coat layer during spore morphogenesis.