Stabilization of Bacillus subtilis Spx under cell wall stress requires the anti-adaptor protein YirB

PLoS Genet. 2018 Jul 12;14(7):e1007531. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1007531. eCollection 2018 Jul.

Abstract

Spx is a global transcriptional regulator present in low-GC Gram-positive bacteria, including the model bacterium Bacillus subtilis and various human pathogens. In B. subtilis, activation of Spx occurs in response to disulfide stress. We recently reported, however, that induction of Spx also occurs in response to cell wall stress, and that the molecular events that result in its activation under both stress conditions are mechanistically different. Here, we demonstrate that, in addition to up-regulation of spx transcription through the alternative sigma factor σM, full and timely activation of Spx-regulated genes by cell wall stress requires Spx stabilization by the anti-adaptor protein YirB. YirB is itself transcriptionally induced under cell wall stress, but not disulfide stress, and this induction requires the CssRS two-component system, which responds to both secretion stress and cell wall antibiotics. The yirB gene is repressed by YuxN, a divergently transcribed TetR family repressor, and CssR~P acts as an anti-repressor. Collectively, our results identify a physiological role for the YirB anti-adaptor protein and show that induction of the Spx regulon under disulfide and cell wall stress occurs through largely independent pathways.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / pharmacology
  • Bacillus subtilis / physiology*
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism*
  • Cell Wall / drug effects
  • Cell Wall / metabolism*
  • Disulfides / pharmacology
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / drug effects
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial / physiology*
  • Protein Stability
  • Regulon / physiology
  • Sigma Factor / metabolism
  • Stress, Physiological / physiology*
  • Up-Regulation

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Disulfides
  • Sigma Factor