scholarly journals Searching for Protein-Protein Interactions within the Bacillus subtilis Spore Coat

2009 ◽  
Vol 191 (10) ◽  
pp. 3212-3219 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Krajčíková ◽  
Magda Lukáčová ◽  
Denisa Müllerová ◽  
Simon M. Cutting ◽  
Imrich Barák
Keyword(s):  
Bacillus Subtilis ◽  
Complex Structure ◽  
Insoluble Fraction ◽  
Size Exclusion ◽  
Strong Interactions ◽  
Spore Coat ◽  
Coat Proteins ◽  
Yeast Two Hybrid ◽  
Lytic Enzymes ◽  
Two Hybrid

ABSTRACT The capability of endospores of Bacillus subtilis to withstand extreme environmental conditions is secured by several attributes. One of them, the protein shell that encases the spore and is known as the coat, provides the spore with its characteristic resistance to toxic chemicals, lytic enzymes, and predation by unicellular and multicellular eukaryotes. Despite most of the components of the spore coat having been identified, we have only a vague understanding of how such a complex structure is assembled. Using the yeast two-hybrid system, we attempted to identify direct contacts among the proteins allocated to the insoluble fraction of the spore coat: CotV, CotW, CotX, CotY, and CotZ. We also examined whether they could interact with CotE, one of the most crucial morphogenetic proteins governing outer coat formation and also present in the insoluble fraction. Out of all 21 possible interactions we tested, 4 were found to be positive. Among these interactions, we confirmed the previous observation that CotE forms homo-oligomers. In addition, we observed homotypic interactions of CotY, strong interactions between CotZ and CotY, and relatively weak, yet significant, interactions between CotV and CotW. The results of this yeast two-hybrid analysis were confirmed by size exclusion chromatography of recombinant coat proteins and a pull-down assay.

scholarly journals Interactions among CotB, CotG, and CotH during Assembly of the Bacillus subtilis Spore Coat

2004 ◽  
Vol 186 (4) ◽  
pp. 1110-1119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rita Zilhão ◽  
Mónica Serrano ◽  
Rachele Isticato ◽  
Ezio Ricca ◽  
Charles P. Moran ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bacillus Subtilis ◽  
Reverse Genetics ◽  
Spore Coat ◽  
Yeast Two Hybrid ◽  
Bacillus Subtilis Spore ◽  
Yeast Two Hybrid System ◽  
Ordered Assembly ◽  
Heterologous Antigens ◽  
Two Hybrid ◽  
Good Agreement

ABSTRACT Spores formed by wild-type Bacillus subtilis are encased in a multilayered protein structure (called the coat) formed by the ordered assembly of over 30 polypeptides. One polypeptide (CotB) is a surface-exposed coat component that has been used as a vehicle for the display of heterologous antigens at the spore surface. The cotB gene was initially identified by reverse genetics as encoding an abundant coat component. cotB is predicted to code for a 43-kDa polypeptide, but the form that prevails in the spore coat has a molecular mass of about 66 kDa (herein designated CotB-66). Here we show that in good agreement with its predicted size, expression of cotB in Escherichia coli results in the accumulation of a 46-kDa protein (CotB-46). Expression of cotB in sporulating cells of B. subtilis also results in a 46-kDa polypeptide which appears to be rapidly converted into CotB-66. These results suggest that soon after synthesis, CotB undergoes a posttranslational modification. Assembly of CotB-66 has been shown to depend on expression of both the cotH and cotG loci. We found that CotB-46 is the predominant form found in extracts prepared from sporulating cells or in spore coat preparations of cotH or cotG mutants. Therefore, both cotH and cotG are required for the efficient conversion of CotB-46 into CotB-66 but are dispensable for the association of CotB-46 with the spore coat. We also show that CotG does not accumulate in sporulating cells of a cotH mutant, suggesting that CotH (or a CotH-controlled factor) stabilizes the otherwise unstable CotG. Thus, the need for CotH for formation of CotB-66 results in part from its role in the stabilization of CotG. We also found that CotB-46 is present in complexes with CotG at the time when formation of CotB-66 is detected. Moreover, using a yeast two-hybrid system, we found evidence that CotB directly interacts with CotG and that both CotB and CotG self-interact. We suggest that an interaction between CotG and CotB is required for the formation of CotB-66, which may represent a multimeric form of CotB.

scholarly journals SpoVID Guides SafA to the Spore Coat inBacillus subtilis

2001 ◽  
Vol 183 (10) ◽  
pp. 3041-3049 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda J. Ozin ◽  
Craig S. Samford ◽  
Adriano O. Henriques ◽  
Charles P. Moran
Keyword(s):  
Direct Interaction ◽  
Spore Coat ◽  
Coat Proteins ◽  
Yeast Two Hybrid System ◽  
Spore Coat Proteins ◽  
Basement Layer ◽  
Two Hybrid ◽  
Spore Coat Protein

ABSTRACT Bacteria assemble complex structures by targeting proteins to specific subcellular locations. The protein coat that encasesBacillus subtilis spores is an example of a structure that requires coordinated targeting and assembly of more than 24 polypeptides. The earliest stages of coat assembly require the action of three morphogenetic proteins: SpoIVA, CotE, and SpoVID. In the first steps, a basement layer of SpoIVA forms around the surface of the forespore, guiding the subsequent positioning of a ring of CotE protein about 75 nm from the forespore surface. SpoVID localizes near the forespore membrane where it functions to maintain the integrity of the CotE ring and to anchor the nascent coat to the underlying spore structures. However, it is not known which spore coat proteins interact directly with SpoVID. In this study we examined the interaction between SpoVID and another spore coat protein, SafA, in vivo using the yeast two-hybrid system and in vitro. We found evidence that SpoVID and SafA directly interact and that SafA interacts with itself. Immunofluorescence microscopy showed that SafA localized around the forespore early during coat assembly and that this localization of SafA was dependent on SpoVID. Moreover, targeting of SafA to the forespore was also dependent on SpoIVA, as was targeting of SpoVID to the forespore. We suggest that the localization of SafA to the spore coat requires direct interaction with SpoVID.

scholarly journals The yabG gene of Bacillus subtilis encodes a sporulation specific protease which is involved in the processing of several spore coat proteins

2000 ◽  
Vol 192 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiromu Takamatsu ◽  
Atsuo Imamura ◽  
Takeko Kodama ◽  
Kei Asai ◽  
Naotake Ogasawara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bacillus Subtilis ◽  
Spore Coat ◽  
Coat Proteins ◽  
Specific Protease ◽  
Spore Coat Proteins

scholarly journals Bacillus subtilis Spore Coat

1999 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Driks
Keyword(s):  
Bacillus Subtilis ◽  
Posttranslational Processing ◽  
Spore Coat ◽  
Coat Proteins ◽  
Spore Surface ◽  
Subtilis Spore ◽  
Cell Type ◽  
Dormant Cell ◽  
Bacillus Subtilis Spore ◽  
Specialized Program

SUMMARY In response to starvation, bacilli and clostridia undergo a specialized program of development that results in the production of a highly resistant dormant cell type known as the spore. A proteinacious shell, called the coat, encases the spore and plays a major role in spore survival. The coat is composed of over 25 polypeptide species, organized into several morphologically distinct layers. The mechanisms that guide coat assembly have been largely unknown until recently. We now know that proper formation of the coat relies on the genetic program that guides the synthesis of spore components during development as well as on morphogenetic proteins dedicated to coat assembly. Over 20 structural and morphogenetic genes have been cloned. In this review, we consider the contributions of the known coat and morphogenetic proteins to coat function and assembly. We present a model that describes how morphogenetic proteins direct coat assembly to the specific subcellular site of the nascent spore surface and how they establish the coat layers. We also discuss the importance of posttranslational processing of coat proteins in coat morphogenesis. Finally, we review some of the major outstanding questions in the field.

scholarly journals Localization of the Cortex Lytic Enzyme CwlJ in Spores of Bacillus subtilis

2002 ◽  
Vol 184 (4) ◽  
pp. 1219-1224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina Bagyan ◽  
Peter Setlow
Keyword(s):  
Bacillus Subtilis ◽  
Spore Germination ◽  
Dipicolinic Acid ◽  
High Salt ◽  
Lytic Enzyme ◽  
Spore Coat ◽  
Coat Proteins ◽  
His Tag ◽  
Spore Coat Proteins ◽  
Triton X

ABSTRACT The enzyme CwlJ is involved in the depolymerization of cortex peptidoglycan during germination of spores of Bacillus subtilis. CwlJ with a C-terminal His tag was functional and was extracted from spores by procedures that remove spore coat proteins. However, this CwlJ was not extracted from disrupted spores by dilute buffer, high salt concentrations, Triton X-100, Ca2+-dipicolinic acid, dithiothreitol, or peptidoglycan digestion, disappeared during spore germination, and was not present in cotE spores in which the spore coat is aberrant. These findings indicate the following: (i) the reason decoated and cotE spores germinate poorly with dipicolinic acid is the absence of CwlJ from these spores; and (ii) CwlJ is located in the spore coat, presumably tightly associated with one or more other coat proteins.

scholarly journals Autoregulation of SafA Assembly through Recruitment of a Protein Cross-Linking Enzyme

2018 ◽  
Vol 200 (14) ◽  
Author(s):  
Catarina G. Fernandes ◽  
Charles P. Moran ◽  
Adriano O. Henriques
Keyword(s):  
Bacillus Subtilis ◽  
Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Short Form ◽  
Subcellular Location ◽  
Cross Linking ◽  
Coat Proteins ◽  
Lytic Enzymes ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Peptidoglycan Layer ◽  
Protein Cross Linking

ABSTRACTThe coat ofBacillus subtilisspores is a multiprotein protective structure that also arbitrates many of the environmental interactions of the spore. The coat assembles around the cortex peptidoglycan layer and is differentiated into an inner and an outer layer and a crust. SafA governs assembly of the inner coat, whereas CotE drives outer coat assembly. SafA localizes to the cortex-coat interface. Both SafA and its short form C30 are substrates for Tgl, a coat-associated transglutaminase that cross-links proteins through ε-(γ-glutamyl)lysyl isopeptide bonds. We show that SafA and C30 are distributed between the coat and cortex layers. The deletion oftglincreases the extractability of SafA, mainly from the cortex. Tgl itself is mostly located in the inner coat and cortex. The localization of Tgl-cyan fluorescent protein (Tgl-CFP) is strongly, but not exclusively, dependent onsafA. However, the association of Tgl with the cortex requiressafA. Together, our results suggest an assembly pathway in which Tgl is first recruited to the forming spore in a manner that is only partially dependent on SafA and then is drafted to the cortex by SafA. Tgl, in turn, promotes the conversion of coat- and cortex-associated SafA into forms that resist extraction, possibly by catalyzing the cross-linking of SafA to other coat proteins, to the cortex, and/or to cortex-associated proteins. Therefore, the final assembly state of SafA relies on an autoregulatory pathway that requires the subcellular localization of a protein cross-linking enzyme. Tgl most likely exerts a “spotwelding” activity, cross-linking preformed complexes in the cortex and inner coat layers of spores.IMPORTANCEIn this work, we show how two proteins work together to determine their subcellular location within the coat of bacterial endospores.Bacillus subtilisendospores are surrounded by a multilayer protein coat composed of over 80 proteins, which surrounds an underlying peptidoglycan layer (the spore cortex) protecting it from lytic enzymes. How specific coat proteins are targeted to specific layers of the coat is not well understood. We found that the protein SafA recruits a protein-cross-linking enzyme (a transglutaminase) to the cortex and inner layers of the coat, where both are cemented, by cross-linking, into macromolecular complexes.

scholarly journals Role of Spore Coat Proteins in the Resistance of Bacillus subtilis Spores to Caenorhabditis elegans Predation

2008 ◽  
Vol 190 (18) ◽  
pp. 6197-6203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria-Halima Laaberki ◽  
Jonathan Dworkin
Keyword(s):  
Bacillus Subtilis ◽  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Spore Coat ◽  
Coat Proteins ◽  
Host Interaction ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
In The Wild

ABSTRACT Bacterial spores are resistant to a wide range of chemical and physical insults that are normally lethal for the vegetative form of the bacterium. While the integrity of the protein coat of the spore is crucial for spore survival in vitro, far less is known about how the coat provides protection in vivo against predation by ecologically relevant hosts. In particular, assays had characterized the in vitro resistance of spores to peptidoglycan-hydrolyzing enzymes like lysozyme that are also important effectors of innate immunity in a wide variety of hosts. Here, we use the bacteriovorous nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, a likely predator of Bacillus spores in the wild, to characterize the role of the spore coat in an ecologically relevant spore-host interaction. We found that ingested wild-type Bacillus subtilis spores were resistant to worm digestion, whereas vegetative forms of the bacterium were efficiently digested by the nematode. Using B. subtilis strains carrying mutations in spore coat genes, we observed a correlation between the degree of alteration of the spore coat assembly and the susceptibility to the worm degradation. Surprisingly, we found that the spores that were resistant to lysozyme in vitro can be sensitive to C. elegans digestion depending on the extent of the spore coat structure modifications.

scholarly journals Assembly and Function of a Spore Coat-Associated Transglutaminase of Bacillus subtilis

2005 ◽  
Vol 187 (22) ◽  
pp. 7753-7764 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rita Zilhão ◽  
Rachele Isticato ◽  
Lígia O. Martins ◽  
Leif Steil ◽  
Uwe Völker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bacillus Subtilis ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Single Amino Acid ◽  
Spore Coat ◽  
Lytic Enzymes ◽  
Outer Coat ◽  
Assembly Structure ◽  
Cross Links ◽  
Noxious Chemicals ◽  
And Function

ABSTRACT The assembly of a multiprotein coat around the Bacillus subtilis spore confers resistance to lytic enzymes and noxious chemicals and ensures normal germination. Part of the coat is cross-linked and resistant to solubilization. The coat contains ε-(γ-glutamyl)lysyl cross-links, and the expression of the gene (tgl) for a spore-associated transglutaminase was shown before to be required for the cross-linking of coat protein GerQ. Here, we have investigated the assembly and function of Tgl. We found that Tgl associates, albeit at somewhat reduced levels, with the coats of mutants that are unable to assemble the outer coat (cotE), that are missing the inner coat and with a greatly altered outer coat (gerE), or that are lacking discernible inner and outer coat structures (cotE gerE double mutant). This suggests that Tgl is present at various levels within the coat lattice. The assembly of Tgl occurs independently of its own activity, as a single amino acid substitution of a cysteine to an alanine (C116A) at the active site of Tgl does not affect its accumulation or assembly. However, like a tgl insertional mutation, the tglC116A allele causes increased extractability of polypeptides of about 40, 28, and 16 kDa in addition to GerQ (20 kDa) and affects the structural integrity of the coat. We show that most Tgl is assembled onto the spore surface soon after its synthesis in the mother cell under σK control but that the complete insolubilization of at least two of the Tgl-controlled polypeptides occurs several hours later. We also show that a multicopy allele of tgl causes increased assembly of Tgl and affects the assembly, structure, and functional properties of the coat.

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