Open AccessPhosphate Starvation Induces the Sporulation Killing Factor of Bacillus subtilis
Author(s) -
Nicholas Allenby,
Carys A. Watts,
Georg Homuth,
Zoltán Prágai,
Anil Wipat,
Alan C. Ward,
Colin R. Harwood
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of bacteriology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.652
H-Index - 246
eISSN - 1067-8832
pISSN - 0021-9193
DOI - 10.1128/jb.00084-06
Subject(s) - biology , bacillus subtilis , starvation , spore , phosphate , microbiology and biotechnology , biochemistry , bacteria , genetics , endocrinology
Bacillus subtilis produces and exports a peptide sporulation killing factor (SkfA) that induces lysis of sibling cells.skfA is part of theskf operon (skfA-H ), which is responsible for immunity to SkfA, as well as for production and export of SkfA. Here we report that transcription ofskfA is markedly induced when cells ofB. subtilis are subjected to phosphate starvation. The role of PhoP in regulation of theskf operon was confirmed by in vitro gel shift assays, which showed that this operon is a new member of the PhoP regulon. A putative stem-loop structure in theskfA-skfB intergenic region is proposed to act as a stabilizer of anskfA -specific transcript.