A Life inBacillus subtilisSignal Transduction

Abstract

This is a tale of how technology drove the discovery of the molecular basis for signal transduction in the initiation of sporulation in Bacillus subtilis and in bacterial two-component systems. It progresses from genetics to cloning and sequencing to biochemistry to structural biology to an understanding of how proteins evolve interaction specificity and to identification of interaction surfaces by statistical physics. This is about how the people in my laboratory accomplished this feat; without them little would have been done.

A Bumpy Pathway to Stationary-Phase Survival in Bacillus subtilis

“…A large number of adaptations to nutrient starvation, in addition to the initiation of sporulation, have been uncovered and studied intensively in B. subtilis; examples are the synthesis and excretion of polymer-degrading enzymes, antibiotics, and secondary metabolites, motility and chemotaxis, genetic competence, and biofilm formation (1, 3, 4). However, upon prolonged starvation, B.…”

Exploring the (Almost) Unknown: Archaeal Two-Component Systems

“…These proteins compete with other RRs for phosphoryl groups from a single histidine kinase. In addition, stand-alone RRs were found to form part of more-complex multiprotein phosphorelay systems, of which the best-characterized example is the sporulation system of Bacillus subtilis (21). Galperin et al (7) report the conservation of amino acids essential for phosphorylation in the archaeal stand-alone RRs, suggesting that these are active proteins.…”

Membrane Sensor Histidine Kinases: Insights from Structural, Ligand and Inhibitor Studies of Full-Length Proteins and Signalling Domains for Antibiotic Discovery

“…The phosphoryl group is then transferred directly to the receiver domain (REC) of the partner RR at a conserved Aspartate residue usually resulting in a conformational change in the RR protein which results in altered affinity for a DNA-binding or other target site in the cell, or altered associated enzyme activities, thereby bringing about an appropriate adaptive response to the original stimulus ( Figure 1 [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]). For recent Reviews of the detailed molecular mechanisms involved, see references [ 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ].…”