Disruption of a sigma factor gene, sigF, affects an intermediate stage of spore pigment production in Streptomyces aureofaciens

The Streptomyces aureofaciens sigF gene encodes a sigma factor. By integrative transformation, via double cross-over, a stable null mutant of sigF gene was obtained. This mutation appeared to have no obvious effect on vegetative growth, but affected the late stage of spore maturation. Microscopic examination showed that spores were deformed, and spore wall was thinner, compared with the wild-type spores. The spore pigment of sigF mutant was green, compared to wild-type grey-pink spore pigmentation. The plasmid-born wild-type sigF gene complemented the mutation after transformation of the mutant strain.