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The synthesis and role of the mechanosensitive channel of large conductance in growth and differentiation of Bacillus subtilis

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Abstract

A translational lacZ fusion of the Bacillus subtilis mscL gene that encodes the mechanosensitive channel of large conductance (MscL) was expressed at significant levels during log phase growth of B. subtilis, and the level of mscL–lacZ expression was increased 1.5-fold by growth in medium with high salt (1 M NaCl). However, in growth media with either low or high salt, mscL–lacZ expression fell drastically beginning in the late log phase of growth, and fell to even lower levels during sporulation, although a significant amount of β-galactosidase from mscL to lacZ was accumulated in the developing spore. Deletion of mscL had no effect on B. subtilis growth, sporulation or subsequent spore germination. The ΔmscL strain also grew as well as the wild-type parental strain in medium with 1.2 M NaCl. While log phase wild-type cells grown with 1.2 M NaCl survived a rapid 0.9 M osmotic downshift, log phase ΔmscL cells rapidly lost viability and lysed when subjected to this same osmotic downshift. However, by the early stationary phase of growth, ΔmscL cells had become resistant to a 0.9 M osmotic downshift.

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Abbreviations

McsL:

The mechanosensitive channel of large conductance

MS:

Mechanosensitive

DPA:

Dipicolinic acid

Ca–DPA:

a 1:1 chelate of Ca2+ and DPA

MPa:

MegaPascals

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the Army Research Office and the National Institutes of Health. We are grateful for the assistance of Barbara Setlow in assessing spore germination with Ca–DPA, and to Jie Wei for high-pressure treatments.

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  1. Department of Molecular, Microbial and Structural Biology, University of Connecticut Health Center, 263 Farmington Avenue, Farmington, CT, 06030-3305, USA

    Paul G. Wahome & Peter Setlow

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  1. Paul G. Wahome
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  2. Peter Setlow
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Correspondence to Peter Setlow.

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Wahome, P.G., Setlow, P. The synthesis and role of the mechanosensitive channel of large conductance in growth and differentiation of Bacillus subtilis . Arch Microbiol 186, 377–383 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-006-0152-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-006-0152-2

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