Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America logoLink to Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
. 1973 Apr;70(4):1179–1183. doi: 10.1073/pnas.70.4.1179

An RNA Polymerase Mutation Causing Temperature-Sensitive Sporulation in Bacillus subtilis

T J Leighton 1
PMCID: PMC433452  PMID: 4197929

Abstract

A single-site mutant of Bacillus subtilis with a rifampin-resistant RNA polymerase has been isolated; this mutation causes temperature-sensitive sporulation. The temperature-sensitive mutation was only expressed during a limited time period, covering the middle third of the sporulation sequence. Mutant cells grown at the nonpermissive temperature exhibited the normal change in RNA polymerase template specificity, accumulated extracellular proteolytic activity and antibiotic activity, but failed to accumulate alkaline phosphatase and, hence, were blocked at or near stage III in the sporulation sequence. Pulse-labeled RNA synthesis was seriously deranged during postexponential growth phase in mutant cells incubated at the nonpermissive temperature.

Keywords: template specificity, rifampin-resistant mutants, altered sporulation, RNA synthesis

Full text

PDF
1179

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Esposito M. S., Esposito R. E., Arnaud M., Halvorson H. O. Conditional mutants of meiosis in yeast. J Bacteriol. 1970 Oct;104(1):202–210. doi: 10.1128/jb.104.1.202-210.1970. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Hanson R. S., Peterson J. A., Yousten A. A. Unique biochemical events in bacterial sporulation. Annu Rev Microbiol. 1970;24:53–90. doi: 10.1146/annurev.mi.24.100170.000413. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Hussey C., Losick R., Sonenshein A. L. Ribosomal RNA synthesis is turned off during sporulation of Bacillus subtilis. J Mol Biol. 1971 Apr 14;57(1):59–70. doi: 10.1016/0022-2836(71)90119-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Hussey C., Pero J., Shorenstein R. G., Losick R. In vitro synthesis of ribosomal RNA by Bacillus subtilis RNA polymerase. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1972 Feb;69(2):407–411. doi: 10.1073/pnas.69.2.407. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Kornberg A., Spudich J. A., Nelson D. L., Deutscher M. P. Origin of proteins in sporulation. Annu Rev Biochem. 1968;37:51–78. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.37.070168.000411. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Leighton T. J., Doi R. H. The stability of messenger ribonucleic acid during sporulation in Bacillus subtilis. J Biol Chem. 1971 May 25;246(10):3189–3195. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Losick R., Shorenstein R. G., Sonenshein A. L. Structural alteration of RNA polymerase during sporulation. Nature. 1970 Aug 29;227(5261):910–913. doi: 10.1038/227910a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Mandelstam J., Waites W. M. Sporulation in Bacillus subtilis. The role of exoprotease. Biochem J. 1968 Oct;109(5):793–801. doi: 10.1042/bj1090793. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Michel J. F., Millet J. Physiological studies on early-blocked sporulation mutants of Bacillus subtilis. J Appl Bacteriol. 1970 Mar;33(1):220–227. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2672.1970.tb05246.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Millet J. Characterization of proteinases excreted by Bacillus subtilis Marburg strain during sporulation. J Appl Bacteriol. 1970 Mar;33(1):207–219. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2672.1970.tb05245.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Schaeffer P. Sporulation and the production of antibiotics, exoenzymes, and exotonins. Bacteriol Rev. 1969 Mar;33(1):48–71. doi: 10.1128/br.33.1.48-71.1969. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Sonenshein A. L., Losick R. RNA polymerase mutants blocked in sporulation. Nature. 1970 Aug 29;227(5261):906–909. doi: 10.1038/227906a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Van Alstyne D., Simon M. I. Division mutants of Bacillus subtilis: isolation and PBS1 transduction of division-specific markers. J Bacteriol. 1971 Dec;108(3):1366–1379. doi: 10.1128/jb.108.3.1366-1379.1971. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Waites W. M., Kay D., Dawes I. W., Wood D. A., Warren S. C., Mandelstam J. Sporulation in Bacillus subtilis. Correlation of biochemical events with morphological changes in asporogenous mutants. Biochem J. 1970 Jul;118(4):667–676. doi: 10.1042/bj1180667. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America are provided here courtesy of National Academy of Sciences

RESOURCES