The isolation, cloning and identification of a vegetative catalase gene from Bacillus subtilis.

A Bacillus subtilis library of Tn917::lacZ insertions was screened for mutants that were unable to grow in the presence of normally sublethal concentrations of hydrogen peroxide. The identification and subsequent analysis of one mutant strain, YB2003, which carried the mutation designated kat-19, revealed that this strain was deficient in the expression of a vegetative catalase. Regions of the chromosome both 5' and 3' to the site of the Tn917 insertion, as well as the gene without the insertion (kat-19+) were cloned. The presence of the functional kat-19+ gene on a high-copy plasmid restored catalase activity to the kat-19::Tn917 strain as well as to strains of B. subtilis that carried the katA 1 mutation. While the katA+ locus is believed to represent the structural gene for the vegetative catalase of B. subtilis [Loewen and Switala, J. Bacteriol. 169 (1987) 5848-5851], the sequence analysis of the cloned kat-19+ DNA fragments revealed an open reading frame that showed significant homology between the deduced amino acid sequence of this gene product and that of known eukaryotic catalases.     

Identification of a putative Bacillus subtilis rho gene.

Transposon Tn917 mutagenesis of Bacillus subtilis BD99 followed by selection for protonophore resistance led to the isolation of strain MS119, which contained a single Tn917 insertion in an open reading frame whose deduced amino acid sequence was 56.6% identical to that of the Escherichia coli rho gene product. The insertional site was near the beginning of the open reading frame, which was located in a region of the B. subtilis chromosome near the spoOF gene; new sequence data for several open reading frames surrounding the putative rho gene are presented. The predicted B. subtilis Rho protein would have 427 amino acids and a molecular weight of 48,628. The growth of the mutant strain was less than that of the wild type on defined medium at 30 degrees C. On yeast extract-supplemented medium, the growth of MS119 was comparable to that of the wild type on defined medium at 30 degrees C. On yeast extract-supplemented medium, the growth of MS119 was comparable to that of the wild type at 30 degrees C but was much slower at lower temperatures; sporulation occurred and competence was developed in cells of the mutant grown at 30 degrees C. To determine whether the protonophore resistance and sensitivity to low growth temperature resulted from the insertion, a chloramphenicol resistance cassette was inserted into the wild-type B. subtilis rho gene of strain BD170; the resulting derivative displayed the same phenotype as MS119.     

The nitrogen-regulated Bacillus subtilis nrgAB operon encodes a membrane protein and a protein highly similar to the Escherichia coli glnB-encoded PII protein.

Expression of beta-galactosidase encoded by the nrg-29::Tn917-lacZ insertion increases 4,000-fold during nitrogen-limited growth (M.R. Atkinson and S. H. Fisher, J. Bacteriol. 173:23-27, 1991). The chromosomal DNA adjacent to the nrg-29::Tn917-lacZ insertion was cloned and sequenced. Analysis of the resulting nucleotide sequence revealed that the Tn917-lacZ transposon was inserted into the first gene of a dicistronic operon, nrgAB. The nrgA gene encodes a 43-kDa hydrophobic protein that is likely to be an integral membrane protein. The nrgB gene encodes a 13-kDa protein that has significant sequence similarity with the Escherichia coli glnB-encoded PII protein. Primer extension analysis revealed that the nrgAB operon is transcribed from a single promoter. The nucleotide sequence of this promoter has significant similarity with the -10 region, but not the -35 region, of the consensus sequence for Bacillus subtilis sigma A-dependent promoters.     

Cloning and sequencing of the gerD gene of Bacillus subtilis

A Tn917 insertion in the same region of the chromosome as gerD gave rise to a mutant (ger-97) with a germination phenotype similar to that of two gerD mutants which germinate abnormally in a range of germinants. The insertion and two gerD mutations were cotransformed with ribosomal protein genes rpoB, rpsE and rpsI. DNA cloned from one side of the insertion carried the 16S end of the ribosomal RNA operon rrnI. These data were consistent with the order rpoB-rpsE-rpsI-gerD/ger-97::Tn917-rrnI. Insertion into the wild-type chromosome of a plasmid carrying DNA adjacent to the insertion permitted the recovery of a 1.8 kb fragment of DNA which complemented ger-97::Tn917 and the gerD mutations. The DNA nucleotide sequence of the region of this fragment at which Tn917 had inserted revealed a 555 bp open reading frame, preceded by a ribosome-binding site and potential sigma E and sigma A promoter regions and encoding a predicted polypeptide of 21,117 Da. This polypeptide was largely hydrophilic but contained a hydrophobic region at the N-terminus resembling a signal peptide.     

Identification and characterization of genes controlled by the sporulation-regulatory gene spo0H in Bacillus subtilis.

We describe a general strategy for the identification of genes that are controlled by a specific regulatory factor in vivo and the use of this strategy to identify genes in Bacillus subtilis that are controlled by spo0H, a regulatory gene required for the initiation of sporulation. The general strategy makes use of a cloned regulatory gene fused to an inducible promoter to control expression of the regulatory gene and random gene fusions to a reporter gene to monitor expression in the presence and absence of the regulatory gene product. spo0H encodes a sigma factor of RNA polymerase, sigma H, and is required for the extensive reprograming of gene expression during the transition from growth to stationary phase and during the initiation of sporulation. We identified 18 genes that are controlled by sigma H (csh genes) in vivo by monitoring expression of random gene fusions to lacZ, made by insertion mutagenesis with the transposon Tn917lac, in the presence and absence of sigma H. These genes had lower levels of expression in the absence of sigma H than in the presence of sigma H. Patterns of expression of the csh genes during growth and sporulation in wild-type and spo0H mutant cells indicated that other regulatory factors are probably involved in controlling expression of some of these genes. Three of the csh::Tn917lac insertion mutations caused noticeable phenotypes. One caused a defect in vegetative growth, but only in combination with a spo0H mutation. Two others caused a partial defect in sporulation. One of these also caused a defect in the development of genetic competence. Detailed characterization of some of the csh genes and their regulatory regions should help define the role of spo0H in the regulation of gene expression during the transition from growth to stationary phase and during the initiation of sporulation.     

Molecular characterization of a STreptococcus mutans mutant altered in environmental stress responses.

A mutant defective in aciduricity, GS5Tn1, was constructed following mutagenesis of Streptococcus mutans GS5 with the conjugative transposon Tn916. The mutant grew poorly at acidic pH levels and was sensitive to high osmolarity and elevated temperatures. These properties resulted from a single insertion of Tn916 into the GS5 chromosome, and the DNA fragment harboring the transposon was isolated into the cosmid vector, charomid 9-20. Spontaneous excision of Tn916 from the cosmid revealed that Tn916 inserted into a 8.6-kb EcoRI fragment. On the basis of the restriction analyses of insert fragments, it was found that Tn916 inserted into a 0.9-kb EcoRI-XbaI fragment. Nucleotide sequence analysis of this fragment indicated the presence of two open reading frames, ORF1 and ORF2. By using a marker rescue strategy, a 6.0-kb HindIII fragment including the target site for Tn916 insertion and the 5' end of ORF1 was isolated and sequenced. The deduced amino acid sequences of ORF1 and ORF2 showed significant homology with the diacylglycerol kinase and Era proteins, respectively, from Escherichia coli. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the Tn916 insertion junction region in the GS5Tn1 chromosome revealed that the transposon inserted near the 3' terminus of ORF1. Restoration of ORF1 to its original sequence in mutant GS5Tn1 was carried out following transformation with integration vector pVA891 containing an intact ORF1. The resultant transformant showed wild-type levels of aciduricity as well as resistance to elevated temperatures and high osmolarity. These results suggest that the S. mutans homolog of diacylglycerol kinase is important for adaptation of the organism to several environmental stress signals.     

Interactions among mutations that cause altered timing of gene expression during sporulation in Bacillus subtilis.

The ski4::Tn917lac insertion mutation in Bacillus subtilis was isolated in a screen for mutations that cause a defect in sporulation but that are suppressed by the presence or overexpression of the histidine protein kinase encoded by kinA (spoIIJ). ski4::Tn917lac caused a small defect in sporulation, but in combination with a null mutation in kinA, it caused a much more severe defect. The insertion mutation was in an 87-amino-acid open reading frame (orf87 bofA) that controls the activation of a sigma factor, sigma K, at intermediate times during sporulation. The ski4 mutation caused the premature expression of cotA, a gene controlled by sigma K. An independent mutation that causes the premature activation of sigma K also caused a synthetic (synergistic) sporulation phenotype in combination with a null mutation in kinA, indicating that the defect was due to altered timing of gene expression directed by sigma K. Expression of ski4 was shown to be controlled by the sporulation-specific sigma factor sigma E.     

Characterization of csh203::Tn917lac, a mutation in Bacillus subtilis that makes the sporulation sigma factor sigma-H essential for normal vegetative growth.

spo0H encodes a sigma factor, sigma-H, of RNA polymerase that is required for sporulation in Bacillus subtilis. Null mutations in spo0H block the initiation of sporulation but have no obvious effect on vegetative growth. We have characterized an insertion mutation, csh203::Tn917lac, that makes spo0H essential for normal growth. In otherwise wild-type cells, the csh203::Tn917lac insertion mutation has no obvious effect on cell growth, viability, or sporulation. However, in combination with a mutation in spo0H, the csh203 mutation causes a defect in vegetative growth. The csh203::Tn917lac insertion mutation was found to be located within orf23, the first gene of the rpoD (sigma-A) operon. The transposon insertion separates the major vegetative promoters P1 and P2 from the coding regions of two essential genes, dnaG (encoding DNA primase) and rpoD (encoding the major sigma factor, sigma-A) and leaves these genes under the control of minor promoters, including P4, a promoter controlled by sigma-H. The chs203 insertion mutation caused a 2- to 10-fold increase in expression of promoters recognized by RNA polymerase containing sigma-H. The increased expression of genes controlled by sigma-H in the csh203 single mutant, as well as the growth defect of the csh203 spo0H double mutant, was due to effects on rpoD and not to a defect in orf23 or dnaG.     

阴沟肠杆菌B8拮抗活性基因‘admA’及上游调控序列的克隆与功能鉴定

为了阐明水稻白叶枯病拮抗菌阴沟肠杆菌B8的作用机理,文章采用转座子标签法和染色体步移技术克隆到突变株B8B中Tn5插入位点周边拮抗活性相关片段,并通过基因敲除验证了获得的拮抗相关片段admA’上游调控序列的功能。以转座子中Kan抗性基因为标签,克隆了B8B菌株中Tn5插入位点左侧2 608 bp序列,经两次染色体步移得到Tn5插入位点右侧的2 354 bp序列。序列拼接后获得B8菌株拮抗相关序列4 611 bp的Bcontig。生物信息学分析显示该序列含有7个ORF,分别对应于3-磷酸甘油醛脱氢酶(GADPH)基因的部分编码区、2个LysR家族转录调控因子、弧菌假设蛋白VSWAT3-20465及成团泛菌(Pantoea agglomerans)andrimid生物合成基因簇的admA、admB和部分admC基因序列。B8B菌株Tn5插入分别位于同源于弧菌假设蛋白的anrPORF及‘admA’基因上游200 bp和894 bp处。通过同源重组技术,借助敲除质粒pMB-BG,获得拮抗活性消失的突变株B-1和B-3。结果表明B8B突变株中Tn5的插入可能影响了anrP蛋白的转录和表达,进而调控拮抗物质编码基因簇的生物合成。B8菌株中拮抗物质相关基因是类似于andrimid生物合成基因簇的基因家族,其上游调控区对该抗生素的生物合成具有重要的作用。