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Comparative genomic study of spo0E family genes and elucidation of the role of Spo0E in Bacillus anthracis

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Abstract

The propensity of bacterium to sporulate or retain the vegetative form depends on the amount of phosphorylated Spo0A (Spo0A-P), regulated by Spo0E multigene family of phosphatases (Spo0E, YisI and YnzD). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that Spo0E multigene family of phosphatases (SMFP) descends in two distinct clades of aerobic (Bacillus cluster) and anaerobic (Clostridia cluster) sporulating bacteria. High sequence conservation within species gives a notion that these members could have evolved through lineage and species-specific duplication event. Of the five genes in Bacillus cereus group, three are pathogen specific, and their synteny suggests that these paralogs could be involved in the regulation of amino acid metabolism and its transport. Overexpression of B. subtilis Spo0E, an ortholog of SMFP members in B. anthracis (BAS1251), resulted in sporulation deficient phenotype in B. anthracis. B. anthracis Spo0A-P binds to a consensus DNA sequence 5′-TGNCGAA-3′ (‘0A-like box’) and loses its DNA binding ability following treatment with B. subtilis Spo0E. Thus, B. subtilis Spo0E acts on B. anthracis Spo0A-P and, therefore could complement the function of BAS1251. Further, since ‘0A-like box’ are present in the promoter region of abrB gene, a known regulator of anthrax toxin gene expression, cross talk among SMFP members and Spo0A-P–AbrB could regulate the expression of anthrax toxin genes.

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Abbreviations

SMFP:

spo0E multigene family of phosphatases

HMM:

Hidden Markov model

LB:

Luria–Bertani

N t :

Number of CFU after heat treatment

N 0 :

Number of CFU before heat treatment

EPPS:

3-[4-(2-Hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazinyl] propanesulfonic acid

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Acknowledgments

Financial support by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (NWP 0038) is acknowledged. Gyanendra P. Dubey was supported by CSIR fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Mall Road, Delhi, 110 007, India

    Gyanendra P. Dubey, Azeet Narayan, Abid R. Mattoo, Gajendra P. Singh, Raj K. Kurupati, Mohd. S. Zaman, Anita Aggarwal, Renu B. Baweja & Yogendra Singh

  2. Department of Zoology, University of Delhi, Delhi, India

    Sharmila Basu-Modak

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  1. Gyanendra P. Dubey
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  2. Azeet Narayan
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Correspondence to Yogendra Singh.

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Communicated by Jorge Membrillo-Hernandez.

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Dubey, G.P., Narayan, A., Mattoo, A.R. et al. Comparative genomic study of spo0E family genes and elucidation of the role of Spo0E in Bacillus anthracis . Arch Microbiol 191, 241–253 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-008-0446-7

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