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Spo0A positively regulates epr expression by negating the repressive effect of co-repressors, SinR and ScoC, in Bacillus subtilis

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Abstract

Bacillus subtilis under nutritional deprivation exhibits several physiological responses such as synthesis of degradative enzymes, motility, competence, sporulation, etc. At the onset of post-exponential phase the global response regulator, Spo0A, directly or indirectly activates the expression of genes involved in the above processes. These genes are repressed during the exponential phase by a group of proteins called transition state regulators, e.g. AbrB, ScoC and SinR. One such post-exponentially expressed gene is epr, which encodes a minor extracellular serine protease and is involved in the swarming motility of B. subtilis. Deletion studies of the upstream region of epr promoter revealed that epr is co-repressed by transition state regulators, SinR and ScoC. Our study shows that Spo0A positively regulates epr expression by nullifying the repressive effect of co-repressors, SinR and ScoC. We demonstrate via in vitro mobility shift assays that Spo0A binds to the upstream region of epr promoter and in turn occludes the binding site of one of the co-repressor, SinR. This explains the mechanism behind the positive regulatory effect of Spo0A on epr expression.

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Acknowledgements

MG acknowledges the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, India, for the doctoral research fellowship. We thank M Ahuja and W Huynh for their valuable suggestions for the manuscript.

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Author notes

  1. Monica Gupta

    Present address: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Institutes of Health (NIH), 6 Center Dr. Room 2A09, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA

  2. Madhulika Dixit

    Present address: Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, Chennai, 600036, India

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gene Regulation Lab, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay, Powai, Mumbai, 400 076, India

    Monica Gupta, Madhulika Dixit & K Krishnamurthy Rao

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  1. Monica Gupta
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  2. Madhulika Dixit
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  3. K Krishnamurthy Rao
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Correspondence to Monica Gupta.

Additional information

Corresponding editor: DURGADAS P KASBEKAR

MS received 04 October 2012; accepted 05 February 2013

Corresponding editor: Durgadas P Kasbekar

[Gupta M, Dixit M and Rao KK 2013 Spo0A positively regulates epr expression by negating the repressive effect of co-repressors, SinR and ScoC, in Bacillus subtilis. J. Biosci. 38 1–9] DOI 10.1007/s12038-013-9309-8

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Gupta, M., Dixit, M. & Rao, K.K. Spo0A positively regulates epr expression by negating the repressive effect of co-repressors, SinR and ScoC, in Bacillus subtilis . J Biosci 38, 291–299 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12038-013-9309-8

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