Cloning, nucleotide sequence, and expression of the Bacillus subtilis lon gene.

The lon gene of Escherichia coli encodes the ATP-dependent serine protease La and belongs to the family of sigma 32-dependent heat shock genes. In this paper, we report the cloning and characterization of the lon gene from the gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis. The nucleotide sequence of the lon locus, which is localized upstream of the hemAXCDBL operon, was determined. The lon gene codes for an 87-kDa protein consisting of 774 amino acid residues. A comparison of the deduced amino acid sequence with previously described lon gene products from E. coli, Bacillus brevis, and Myxococcus xanthus revealed strong homologies among all known bacterial Lon proteins. Like the E. coli lon gene, the B. subtilis lon gene is induced by heat shock. Furthermore, the amount of lon-specific mRNA is increased after salt, ethanol, and oxidative stress as well as after treatment with puromycin. The potential promoter region does not show similarities to promoters recognized by sigma 32 of E. coli but contains sequences which resemble promoters recognized by the vegetative RNA polymerase E sigma A of B. subtilis. A second gene designated orfX is suggested to be transcribed together with lon and encodes a protein with 195 amino acid residues and a calculated molecular weight of 22,000.     

Alkaline phosphatase possessing alkaline phosphodiesterase activity and other phosphodiesterases in Bacillus subtilis.

In Bacillus subtilis Marburg strain, single-point mutations in the phoP locus brought about simultaneous losses of the major activities of alkaline phosphatase (APase) and alkaline phosphodiesterase (APDase). Revertants recovered the two activities. APases with APDase activity were purified from the membrane fraction of B. subtilis 6160-BC6 and from the culture fluid of an APase-secreting B. subtilis mutant strain, RAN 1. In addition to these major APases with APDase activity, at least two kinds of phosphodiesterase (PDase) without phosphatase activity were found in the cytoplasmic supernatants of RAN 1 and an APase-less B. subtilis mutant strain, SP25. Another minor APase with a molecular weight of about 80,000, which had almost no PDase activity, was isolated from the membrane fraction of strain 6160-BC6. Enzyme distribution in subcellular fractions from various strains cultured in high- and low-phosphate media was analyzed. The PDases did not cross-react with rabbit antiserum against the RAN 1 APase with APDase activity. The main component of the PDases had a molecular weight of about 80,000 and was most active at pH 8.0. These results suggest that APase with APDase activity is different from PDases detected in cytoplasmic supernatants and that phoP is the structural gene for the phosphate-repressible APase with APDase activity.     

Cloning, nucleotide sequence and expression in Escherichia coli of a lipase gene from Bacillus subtilis 168.

The gene coding for an extracellular lipase of Bacillus subtilis 168 was cloned and found to be expressed in Escherichia coli. Enzyme activity measurements showed no fatty acid chain length preference. A set of Tn5 insertions which inactivate the gene were localized and used to initiate its sequencing. The nucleotide sequence was determined on two independent clones expressed in E. coli. In one of these clones, the sequence revealed a frameshift, due to the presence of an additional adenine in the N-terminal region, which caused the interruption of the open reading frame, probably allowing translation to initiate at a second ATG codon. The sequence of the wild-type lip gene from B. subtilis was confirmed on the chromosomal fragment amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). When compared to other lipases sequenced to date, the enzyme described here lacks the conserved pentapeptide Gly-X-Ser-X-Gly supposed to be essential for catalysis. However, alignments of several microbial lipase sequences suggest that the pentapeptide Ala-X-Ser-X-Gly present in the lipase B. subtilis may function as the catalytic site. Homologies were found in the N-terminal protein region with lipases from different Pseudomonas species. The predicted M(r) and isoelectric point for the mature protein are 19,348 and 9.7 respectively.     

Cloning and characterization of the Bacillus licheniformis gene coding for alkaline phosphatase.

The structural gene for alkaline phosphatase (orthophosphoric monoester phosphohydrolase; EC 3.1.3.1) of Bacillus licheniformis MC14 was cloned into the Pst1 site of pMK2004 from chromosomal DNA. The gene was cloned on an 8.5-kilobase DNA fragment. A restriction map was developed, and the gene was subcloned on a 4.2-kilobase DNA fragment. The minimum coding region of the gene was localized to a 1.3-kilobase region. Western blot analysis was used to show that the gene coded for a 60,000-molecular-weight protein which cross-reacts with anti-alkaline phosphatase prepared against the salt-extractable membrane alkaline phosphatase of B. licheniformis MC14 .     

Bacillus subtilis alkaline phosphatases III and IV. Cloning, sequencing, and comparisons of deduced amino acid sequence with Escherichia coli alkaline phosphatase three-dimensional structure

Bacillus subtilis has an alkaline phosphatase multigene family. Two members of this gene family, phoAIII and phoAIV, were cloned, taking advantage of in vitro constructed strains containing a plasmid insertion within one or the other of the structural genes. The DNA sequences of the two genes showed approximately 64% identity at the DNA level and 63% identity in the deduced primary amino acid sequences. The phoAIII and phoAIV genes code for predicted proteins of 47,149 and 45,935 Da, respectively. Comparison of the deduced primary amino acid sequence of the mature proteins with other sequenced alkaline phosphatases from Escherichia coli, yeast, and humans shows 25-30% identity. Based on the refined crystal structure of E. coli alkaline phosphatase, it appears that the active site and the core of the structure are retained in both Bacillus alkaline phosphatases. However, both proteins are truncated at the amino terminus compared with other mature alkaline phosphatases, three sizable surface loops of E. coli are deleted, and a minidomain is replaced with a larger domain in the model. Neither Bacillus alkaline phosphatase sequenced contains any cysteine residues, an amino acid implicated in intrachain disulfide bond formation in other alkaline phosphatases.