CotA of Bacillus subtilis is a copper-dependent laccase

The spore coat protein CotA of Bacillus subtilis displays similarities with multicopper oxidases, including manganese oxidases and laccases. B. subtilis is able to oxidize manganese, but neither CotA nor other sporulation proteins are involved. We demonstrate that CotA is a laccase. Syringaldazine, a specific substrate of laccases, reacted with wild-type spores but not with DeltacotA spores. CotA may participate in the biosynthesis of the brown spore pigment, which appears to be a melanin-like product and to protect against UV light.     

Genetic analysis of the marine manganese-oxidizing Bacillus sp. strain SG-1: protoplast transformation, Tn917 mutagenesis, and identification of chromosomal loci involved in manganese oxidation.

Mature spores of the marine Bacillus sp. strain SG-1 bind and oxidize manganese(II), thereby becoming encrusted with a manganese(IV) oxide. Both the function and mechanism of this oxidation are unknown, although evidence suggests that spore coat proteins are involved. To further study this phenomenon, methods of genetic analysis were developed for SG-1. By a modified protoplast transformation procedure, SG-1 was transformed (approximately 100 transformants per micrograms of DNA) with several different plasmids of gram-positive origin. Transposon Tn917, delivered on the temperature-sensitive plasmid pLTV1, was used to generate mutants of SG-1. Conditions were established that allowed 98% plasmid loss and insertions to be recovered at a frequency of 10(-3). Each mutant was found to be the result of a single insertion event. Restriction analysis of 27 mutants that do not oxidize manganese but still sporulate localized 17 of the insertions within two regions of the chromosome (termed Mnx regions), and a physical map of these regions was generated. Analysis of 18 transposon integrants in which manganese oxidation was unaffected revealed random transposon integration, with none of their insertions mapping within the Mnx regions. The Mnx regions were cloned from wild-type SG-1, and the largest region, carried on the lactococcal plasmid pGK13, was used to complement in trans one of the nonoxidizing mutants. These results demonstrate that the Mnx regions encode factors that are required for the oxidation of manganese, and this represents the first report identifying genes involved in bacterial manganese oxidation.     

Localization of Mn(II)-oxidizing activity and the putative multicopper oxidase,MnxG, to the exosporium of the marine Bacillus sp. strain SG-1

Dormant spores of the marine Bacillus sp. strain SG-1 catalyze the oxidation of manganese(II), thereby becoming encrusted with insoluble Mn(III,IV) oxides. In this study, it was found that the Mn(II)-oxidizing activity could be removed from SG-1 spores using a French press and recovered in the supernatant following centrifugation of the spores. Transmission electron microscopy of thin sections of SG-1 spores revealed that the ridged outermost layer was removed by passage through the French press, leaving the remainder of the spore intact. Comparative chemical analysis of this layer with the underlying spore coats suggested that this outer layer is chemically distinct from the spore coat. Taken together, these results indicate that this outer layer is an exosporium. Previous genetic analysis of strain SG-1 identified a cluster of genes involved in Mn(II) oxidation, the mnx genes. The product of the most downstream gene in this cluster, MnxG, appears to be a multicopper oxidase and is essential for Mn(II) oxidation. In this study, MnxG was overexpressed in Escherichia coli and used to generate polyclonal antibodies. Western blot analysis demonstrated that MnxG is localized to the exosporium of wild-type spores but is absent in the non-oxidizing spores of transposon mutants within the mnx gene cluster. To our knowledge, Mn(II) oxidation is the first oxidase activity, and MnxG one of the first gene products, ever shown to be associated with an exosporium.     

ExsY and CotY are required for the correct assembly of the exosporium and spore coat of Bacillus cereus

The exosporium-defective phenotype of a transposon insertion mutant of Bacillus cereus implicated ExsY, a homologue of B. subtilis cysteine-rich spore coat proteins CotY and CotZ, in assembly of an intact exosporium. Single and double mutants of B. cereus lacking ExsY and its paralogue, CotY, were constructed. The exsY mutant spores are not surrounded by an intact exosporium, though they often carry attached exosporium fragments. In contrast, the cotY mutant spores have an intact exosporium, although its overall shape is altered. The single mutants show altered, but different, spore coat properties. The exsY mutant spore coat is permeable to lysozyme, whereas the cotY mutant spores are less resistant to several organic solvents than is the case for the wild type. The exsY cotY double-mutant spores lack exosporium and have very thin coats that are permeable to lysozyme and are sensitive to chloroform, toluene, and phenol. These spore coat as well as exosporium defects suggest that ExsY and CotY are important to correct formation of both the exosporium and the spore coat in B. cereus. Both ExsY and CotY proteins were detected in Western blots of purified wild-type exosporium, in complexes of high molecular weight, and as monomers. Both exsY and cotY genes are expressed at late stages of sporulation.     

Altered arrangement of proteins in the spore coat of a germination mutant of Bacillus subtilis

Spores produced by a mutant of Bacillus subtilis were slow to develop their resistance properties during sporulation, and were slower to germinate than were wild-type spores. The coat protein composition of the mutant spores, as analysed by SDS-PAGE, was similar to that of the wild-type spores. However, one of the proteins (mol. wt 12000) which is normally present in the outer-most layers of mature wild-type spores and which is surface-exposed, was assembled abnormally into the coat of the mutant spores and not surface-exposed. The mutation responsible for this phenotype (spo-520) has been mapped between pheA and leuB on the B. subtilis chromosome, and was 47% cotransformable with leuB16. This mutation, and three others closely linked to it, define a new sporulation locus, spoVIB, which is involved in spore coat assembly. The phenotype of the mutant(s) supports the contention that spore germination and resistance properties may be determined by the assembly of the coat.     

A novel small protein of Bacillus subtilis involved in spore germination and spore coat assembly

Two small genes named sscA (previously yhzE) and orf-62, located in the prsA-yhaK intergenic region of the Bacillus subtilis genome, were transcribed by SigK and GerE in the mother cells during the later stages of sporulation. The SscA-FLAG fusion protein was produced from T(5) of sporulation and incorporated into mature spores. sscA mutant spores exhibited poor germination, and Tricine-SDS-PAGE analysis showed that the coat protein profile of the mutant differed from that of the wild type. Bands corresponding to proteins at 59, 36, 5, and 3 kDa were reduced in the sscA null mutant. Western blot analysis of anti-CotB and anti-CotG antibodies showed reductions of the proteins at 59 kDa and 36 kDa in the sscA mutant spores. These proteins correspond to CotB and CotG. By immunoblot analysis of an anti-CotH antibody, we also observed that CotH was markedly reduced in the sscA mutant spores. It appears that SscA is a novel spore protein involved in the assembly of several components of the spore coat, including CotB, CotG, and CotH, and is associated with spore germination.     

Spore coat protein of Bacillus subtilis. Structure and precursor synthesis.

The coat protein of Bacillus subtilis spores comprises about 10% of the total dry weight of spores and 25% of the total spore protein. One protein with a molecular weight of 13,000 to 15,000 comprises a major portion of the spore coat. This mature spore coat protein has histidine at its NH2 terminus and is relatively rich in hydrophobic amino acids. Netropsin, and antibiotic which binds to A-T-rich regions of DNA and inhibits sporulation, but not growth, decreased the synthesis of this spore coat protein by 75%. A precursor spore coat protein with a molecular weight of 25,000 is made initially at t1 of sporulation and is converted to the mature spore coat protein with a molecular weight of 13,500 at t2 - t3. These data indicate that the spore coat protein gene is expressed very early in sporulation prior to the modifications of RNA polymerase which have been noted.     

Mutations in the gerP locus of Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus cereus affect access of germinants to their targets in spores

The gerP1 transposon insertion mutation of Bacillus cereus is responsible for a defect in the germination response of spores to both L-alanine and inosine. The mutant is blocked at an early stage, before loss of heat resistance or release of dipicolinate, and the efficiency of colony formation on nutrient agar from spores is reduced fivefold. The protein profiles of alkaline-extracted spore coats and the spore cortex composition are unchanged in the mutant. Permeabilization of gerP mutant spores by coat extraction procedures removes the block in early stages of germination, although a consequence of the permeabilization procedure in both wild type and mutant is that late germination events are not complete. The complete hexacistronic operon that includes the site of insertion has been cloned and sequenced. Four small proteins encoded by the operon (GerPA, GerPD, GerPB, and GerPF) are related in sequence. A homologous operon (yisH-yisC) can be found in the Bacillus subtilis genome sequence; null mutations in yisD and yisF, constructed by integrational inactivation, result in a mutant phenotype similar to that seen in B. cereus, though somewhat less extreme and equally repairable by spore permeabilization. Normal rates of germination, as estimated by loss of heat resistance, are also restored to a gerP mutant by the introduction of a cotE mutation, which renders the spore coats permeable to lysozyme. The B. subtilis operon is expressed solely during sporulation, and is sigma K-inducible. We hypothesize that the GerP proteins are important as morphogenetic or structural components of the Bacillus spore, with a role in the establishment of normal spore coat structure and/or permeability, and that failure to synthesize these proteins during spore formation limits the opportunity for small hydrophilic organic molecules, like alanine or inosine, to gain access to their normal target, the germination receptor, in the spore.     

Manganese binding and oxidation by spores of a marine bacillus.

Mature, dormant spores of a marine bacillus, SG-1, bound and oxidized (precipitated) manganese on their surfaces. The binding and oxidation occurred under dormant conditions, with mature spores suspended in natural seawater. These heat-stable spores were formed in the absence of added manganese in the growth medium. The rate and amount of manganese bound by SG-1 spores was a function of spore concentration. Temperatures greater than 45 degrees C, pH values below 6.5, or the addition of EDTA or the metabolic inhibitors sodium azide, potassium cyanide, and mercuric chloride inhibited manganese binding and oxidation. However, SG-1 spores bound and oxidized manganese after treatment with glutaraldehyde, formaldehyde, ethylene oxide gas, or UV light, all of which killed the spores. Manganese oxidation never occurred in the absence of manganese binding to spores. The data suggest that Mn2+ was complexed by a spore component, perhaps an exosporium or a spore coat protein: once bound, the manganese was rapidly oxidized.     

The ExsA protein of Bacillus cereus is required for assembly of coat and exosporium onto the spore surface

The outermost layer of spores of the Bacillus cereus family is a loose structure known as the exosporium. Spores of a library of Tn917-LTV1 transposon insertion mutants of B. cereus ATCC 10876 were partitioned into hexadecane; a less hydrophobic mutant that was isolated contained an insertion in the exsA promoter region. ExsA is the equivalent of SafA (YrbA) of Bacillus subtilis, which is also implicated in spore coat assembly; the gene organizations around both are identical, and both proteins contain a very conserved N-terminal cortex-binding domain of ca. 50 residues, although the rest of the sequence is much less conserved. In particular, unlike SafA, the ExsA protein contains multiple tandem oligopeptide repeats and is therefore likely to have an extended structure. The exsA gene is expressed in the mother cell during sporulation. Spores of an exsA mutant are extremely permeable to lysozyme and are blocked in late stages of germination, which require coat-associated functions. Two mutants expressing differently truncated versions of ExsA were constructed, and they showed the same gross defects in the attachment of exosporium and spore coat layers. The protein profile of the residual exosporium harvested from spores of the three mutants--two expressing truncated proteins and the mutant with the original transposon insertion in the promoter region--showed some differences from the wild type and from each other, but the major exosporium glycoproteins were retained. The exsA gene is extremely important for the normal assembly and anchoring of both the spore coat and exosporium layers in spores of B. cereus.     

Manganese(II)-oxidizing Bacillus spores in Guaymas Basin hydrothermal sediments and plumes

Microbial oxidation and precipitation of manganese at deep-sea hydrothermal vents are important oceanic biogeochemical processes, yet nothing is known about the types of microorganisms or mechanisms involved. Here we report isolation of a number of diverse spore-forming Mn(II)-oxidizing Bacillus species from Guaymas Basin, a deep-sea hydrothermal vent environment in the Gulf of California, where rapid microbially mediated Mn(II) oxidation was previously observed. mnxG multicopper oxidase genes involved in Mn(II) oxidation were amplified from all Mn(II)-oxidizing Bacillus spores isolated, suggesting that a copper-mediated mechanism of Mn(II) oxidation could be important at deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA and mnxG genes revealed that while many of the deep-sea Mn(II)-oxidizing Bacillus species are very closely related to previously recognized isolates from coastal sediments, other organisms represent novel strains and clusters. The growth and Mn(II) oxidation properties of these Bacillus species suggest that in hydrothermal sediments they are likely present as spores that are active in oxidizing Mn(II) as it emerges from the seafloor.     

Manganese Oxidation by Spores and Spore Coats of a Marine Bacillus Species

Bacillus sp. strain SG-1 is a marine bacterial species isolated from a near-shore manganese sediment sample. Its mature dormant spores promote the oxidation of Mn²⁺ to MnO₂. By quantifying the amounts of immobilized and oxidized manganese, it was established that bound manganese was almost instantaneously oxidized. When the final oxidation of manganese by the spores was partly inhibited by NaN₃ or anaerobiosis, an equivalent decrease in manganese immobilization was observed. After formation of a certain amount of MnO₂ by the spores, the oxidation rate decreased. A maximal encrustment was observed after which no further oxidation occurred. The oxidizing activity could be recovered by reduction of the MnO₂ with hydroxylamine. Once the spores were encrusted, they could bind significant amounts of manganese, even when no oxidation occurred. Purified spore coat preparations oxidized manganese at the same rate as intact spores. During the oxidation of manganese in spore coat preparations, molecular oxygen was consumed and protons were liberated. The data indicate that a spore coat component promoted the oxidation of Mn²⁺ in a biologically catalyzed process, after adsorption of the ion to incipiently formed MnO₂. Eventually, when large amounts of MnO₂ were allowed to accumulate, the active sites were masked and further oxidation was prevented.     

Characterization of spores of Bacillus subtilis that lack most coat layers

Spores of Bacillus subtilis have a thick outer layer of relatively insoluble protein called the coat, which protects spores against a number of treatments and may also play roles in spore germination. However, elucidation of precise roles of the coat in spore properties has been hampered by the inability to prepare spores lacking all or most coat material. In this work, we show that spores of a strain with mutations in both the cotE and gerE genes, which encode proteins involved in coat assembly and expression of genes encoding coat proteins, respectively, lack most extractable coat protein as seen by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, as well as the great majority of the coat as seen by atomic force microscopy. However, the cotE gerE spores did retain a thin layer of insoluble coat material that was most easily seen by microscopy following digestion of these spores with lysozyme. These severely coat-deficient spores germinated relatively normally with nutrients and even better with dodecylamine but not with a 1:1 chelate of Ca(2+) and dipicolinic acid. These spores were also quite resistant to wet heat, to mechanical disruption, and to treatment with detergents at an elevated temperature and pH but were exquisitely sensitive to killing by sodium hypochlorite. These results provide new insight into the role of the coat layer in spore properties.     

Transglutaminase-mediated cross-linking of GerQ in the coats of Bacillus subtilis spores

The spores of Bacillus subtilis show remarkable resistance to many environmental stresses, due in part to the presence of an outer proteinaceous structure known as the spore coat. GerQ is a spore coat protein essential for the presence of CwlJ, an enzyme involved in the hydrolysis of the cortex during spore germination, in the spore coat. Here we show that GerQ is cross-linked into higher-molecular-mass forms due in large part to a transglutaminase. GerQ is the only substrate for this transglutaminase identified to date. In addition, we show that cross-linking of GerQ into high-molecular-mass forms occurs only very late in sporulation, after mother cell lysis. These findings, as well as studies of GerQ cross-linking in mutant strains where spore coat assembly is perturbed, lead us to suggest that coat proteins must assemble first and that their cross-linking follows as a final step in the spore coat formation pathway.     

spoVIC, a new sporulation locus in Bacillus subtilis affecting spore coats, germination and the rate of sporulation

A mutation near cysB on the Bacillus subtilis chromosome marks a new sporulation locus, spoVIC. It causes spores to germinate more slowly than those of the wild-type under all conditions and, from indirect evidence, it does not appear to alter the affinity for the germinant L-alanine. The mutant spores have some deficiency of coat proteins (particularly the alkalisoluble coat protein, Mr = 12 000) and the spore coat layers are disorganized. The mutant strain grows normally and sporulates normally until stage II, after which its sporulation is delayed by about 2 h compared to that of the wild-type. This delay results in the prolonged synthesis of some coat proteins and the late synthesis of others. The abnormal coat may be the cause of the germination deficiency. A double mutant strain carrying the spoVIC610 mutation together with gerE36 sporulates slowly. Its spores have very little coat protein, are sensitive to heat, lysozyme and organic solvents, but germinate as well as the strain carrying the spoVIC mutation alone. The role of the spore coat in germination is discussed in the light of these findings.