Balanced transcription of cell division genes in Bacillus subtilis as revealed by single cell analysis.

Details

Serval ID
serval:BIB_04A75865B936
Type
Article: article from journal or magazin.
Collection
Publications
Title
Balanced transcription of cell division genes in Bacillus subtilis as revealed by single cell analysis.
Journal
Environmental Microbiology
Author(s)
Trip E.N., Veening J.W., Stewart E.J., Errington J., Scheffers D.J.
ISSN
1462-2920 (Electronic)
ISSN-L
1462-2912
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2013
Volume
15
Number
12
Pages
3196-3209
Language
english
Abstract
Cell division in bacteria is carried out by a set of conserved proteins that all have to function at the correct place and time. A cell cycle-dependent transcriptional programme drives cell division in bacteria such as Caulobacter crescentus. Whether such a programme exists in the Gram-positive model organism Bacillus subtilis is unknown. Here, we investigate the role of gene transcription as a potential regulatory mechanism for control of division in B. subtilis. Transcriptional GFP fusions in combination with flow cytometry demonstrated a constitutive promoter activity, independent of growth rate, of nine tested cell division genes. These measurements were verified by quantitative real-time reverse-transcription PCR (qrtPCR). Time-lapse fluorescence microscopy was performed on a set of selected reporter strains to test transcriptional regulation during the cell cycle. Interestingly, although the average fluorescence remained constant during cell-cycle progression, individual cells demonstrated a roughly twofold higher promoter activity at the end of the cell cycle. This cell cycle-dependent increased promoter activity can be partly explained by the doubled promoter copy number after DNA replication. Our results indicate that the transcriptional activity of promoters for cell division genes remains constant regardless of growth rate and cell-cycle state, suggesting that regulation of cell division in B. subtilis predominantly takes place at the post-translational level.
Keywords
Bacillus subtilis/genetics, Bacillus subtilis/growth & development, Bacterial Proteins/genetics, Cell Cycle Proteins/genetics, Cell Division/genetics, DNA Replication, Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial, Genes, Bacterial, Promoter Regions, Genetic, Single-Cell Analysis, Transcription, Genetic
Pubmed
Web of science
Create date
11/10/2016 16:31
Last modification date
20/08/2019 13:26
Usage data