Three two‐component signal‐transduction systems interact for Pho regulation in Bacillus subtilis

Abstract

The Pho regulon of Bacillus subtilis is controlled by three two-component signal-transduction systems: PhoP/PhoR, ResD/ResE, and the phosphorelay leading to the phosphorylation of SpoOA. Two of these systems act as positive regulators, while the third is involved in negative regulation of the Pho regulon. Under phosphate-starvation-induction conditions, the response regulator (RR) PhoP, and the histidine protein kinase (HK) PhoR, are involved in the induction of Pho-regulon genes including the phoPR operon and genes encoding the major vegetative alkaline phosphatases, phoA and phoB. ResD (the RR) and ResE (the HK) are positive regulators of both aerobic and anaerobic respiration in B. subtilis. Current data suggest that they are also positive regulators of the Pho regulon, as is the transition-state regulatory protein AbrB. Data presented reveal that ResDE and AbrB are involved in activation of the Pho regulon through separate regulatory pathways. SpoOA approximately P (RR) exerts a negative effect on the Pho regulon through its repression of AbrB, and possibly through repression of ResDE. Both pathways converge to regulate transcription of the phoPR operon.

Comparative analysis of two-component signal transduction systems of Bacillus cereus, Bacillus thuringiensis and Bacillus anthracis

“…They form a group of TCSs that is highly conserved in the low-G+C Gram-positives. They were originally identified in B. subtilis and are known as important regulators of respiration, phosphate uptake and maintenance of the cell envelope (Mohedano et al, 2005;Nakano et al, 1996;Sun et al, 1996). Moreover, YycGF (VicKR) has been shown to be essential in a number of organisms (Fabret & Hoch, 1998;Martin et al, 1999;Throup et al, 2000).…”

“…In bacteria, sensing and adapting to environmental fluctuations is generally mediated by twocomponent signal transduction systems (TCSs) (Parkinson & Kofoid, 1992;Stock et al, 1989). These systems have been shown to monitor a wide variety of conditions, including nutrient deprivation, cold/heat shock, osmotic stress, low pH and many others (Aguilar et al, 2001;Bearson et al, 1998;Jung & Altendorf, 2002;Sun et al, 1996). In addition, TCSs have been shown to initiate important adaptive responses, such as sporulation, biofilm formation and chemotaxis (Jiang et al, 2000;Lyon & Novick, 2004;Szurmant & Ordal, 2004).…”

Characterization of the Bacillus subtilis YxdJ response regulator as the inducer of expression for the cognate ABC transporter YxdLM

“…The largest group, the IIIA/OmpR family, comprises 14 systems, to only four of which have known functions been attributed. The PhoP/ PhoR and ResD/ResE systems participate in the response to phosphate starvation (Hulett et al, 1994), the latter system playing a central role in aerobic and anaerobic respiration (Sun et al, 1996). The YycF/YycG system is an essential twocomponent regulator of B. subtilis growth that modulates ftsAZ operon expression (Fukuchi et al, 2000), and the bceRS (formerly ytsAB) system plays a role in resistance to bacitracin (Bernard et al, 2003;Mascher et al, 2003;Ohki et al, 2003).…”

Sites internal to the coding regions of phoA and pstS bind PhoP and are required for full promoter activity

“…Genetic evidence indicates that among the three characterized two-component systems involved in Pho regulation, PhoP and PhoR are the furthest downstream in the regulatory network (Hulett, 1995;1996;Sun et al, 1996).…”