Dataset Information

Noise in a phosphorelay drives stochastic entry into sporulation in Bacillus subtilis.

ABSTRACT: Entry into sporulation in Bacillus subtilis is governed by a phosphorelay in which phosphoryl groups from a histidine kinase are successively transferred via relay proteins to the response regulator Spo0A. Spo0A~P, in turn, sets in motion events that lead to asymmetric division and activation of the cell-specific transcription factor ?F, a hallmark for entry into sporulation. Here, we have used a microfluidics-based platform to investigate the activation of Spo0A and ?F in individual cells held under constant, sporulation-inducing conditions. The principal conclusions were that: (i) activation of ?F occurs with an approximately constant probability after adaptation to conditions of nutrient limitation; (ii) activation of ?F is tightly correlated with, and preceded by, Spo0A~P reaching a high threshold level; (iii) activation of Spo0A takes place abruptly just prior to asymmetric division; and (iv) the primary source of noise in the activation of Spo0A is the phosphorelay. We propose that cells exhibit a constant probability of attaining a high threshold level of Spo0A~P due to fluctuations in the flux of phosphoryl groups through the phosphorelay.

SUBMITTER: Russell JR

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5623841 | biostudies-other | 2017 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Noise in a phosphorelay drives stochastic entry into sporulation in Bacillus subtilis.

Russell Jonathan R JR Cabeen Matthew T MT Wiggins Paul A PA Paulsson Johan J Losick Richard R

The EMBO journal 20170824 19

Entry into sporulation in Bacillus subtilis is governed by a phosphorelay in which phosphoryl groups from a histidine kinase are successively transferred via relay proteins to the response regulator Spo0A. Spo0A~P, in turn, sets in motion events that lead to asymmetric division and activation of the cell-specific transcription factor σF, a hallmark for entry into sporulation. Here, we have used a microfluidics-based platform to investigate the activation of Spo0A and σF</s ...[more]

PMID: 28838935

Similar Datasets

Project description:In microbial communities, bacteria chemically and physically interact with one another. Some of these interactions are mediated by secreted specialized metabolites that act as either intraspecies or interspecies signals to alter gene expression and to change cell physiology. Bacillus subtilis is a well-characterized soil microbe that can differentiate into multiple cell types, including metabolically dormant endospores. We were interested in identifying microbial interactions that affected sporulation in B. subtilis Using a fluorescent transcriptional reporter, we observed that coculturing B. subtilis with Escherichia coli promoted sporulation gene expression via a secreted metabolite. To identify the active compound, we screened the E. coli Keio Collection and identified the sporulation-accelerating cue as the siderophore enterobactin. B. subtilis has multiple iron acquisition systems that are used to take up the B. subtilis-produced siderophore bacillibactin, as well as to pirate exogenous siderophores such as enterobactin. While B. subtilis uses a single substrate binding protein (FeuA) to take up both bacillibactin and enterobactin, we discovered that it requires two distinct genes to sporulate in response to these siderophores (the esterase gene besA for bacillibactin and a putative esterase gene, ybbA, for enterobactin). In addition, we found that siderophores from a variety of other microbial species also promote sporulation in B. subtilis Our results thus demonstrate that siderophores can act not only as bacterial iron acquisition systems but also as interspecies cues that alter cellular development and accelerate sporulation in B. subtilisIMPORTANCE While much is known about the genetic regulation of Bacillus subtilis sporulation, little is understood about how other bacteria influence this process. This work describes an interaction between Escherichia coli and B. subtilis that accelerates sporulation in B. subtilis The interaction is mediated by the E. coli siderophore enterobactin; we show that other species' siderophores also promote sporulation gene expression in B. subtilis These results suggest that siderophores not only may supply bacteria with the mineral nutrient iron but also may play a role in bacterial interspecies signaling, providing a cue for sporulation. Siderophores are produced by many bacterial species and thus potentially play important roles in altering bacterial cell physiology in diverse environments.

Dataset Information

Noise in a phosphorelay drives stochastic entry into sporulation in Bacillus subtilis.

Publications

Noise in a phosphorelay drives stochastic entry into sporulation in <i>Bacillus subtilis</i>.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure