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PMID: 1904859 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

Molecular cloning and characterization of two genes encoding sigma factors that direct transcription from a Bacillus thuringiensis crystal protein gene promoter.

Journal of bacteriology ·Vol. 173 ·No. 12 ·1991-06-00 ·Pages 3846-54

Adams LF, Brown KL, Whiteley HR

Abstract

Two sigma factors, sigma 35 and sigma 28, direct transcription from the Bt I and Bt II promoters of the cryIA(a) gene of Bacillus thuringiensis; this gene encodes a lepidopteran-specific crystal protoxin. These sigma factors were biochemically characterized in previous work (K. L. Brown and H. R. Whiteley, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 85:4166-4170, 1988; K. L. Brown and H. R. Whiteley, J. Bacteriol. 172:6682-6688, 1990). In this paper, we describe the cloning of the genes encoding these two sigma factors, as well as their nucleotide and deduced amino acid sequences. The deduced amino acid sequences of the sigma 35 and sigma 28 genes show 88 and 85% identity, respectively, to the sporulation-specific sigma E and sigma K polypeptides of Bacillus subtilis. Transformation of the sigma 35 and sigma 28 genes into B. subtilis shows that the respective B. thuringiensis sigma factor genes can complement spoIIG55 (sigma E) and spoIIIC94 (sigma K) defects. Further, B. thuringiensis core polymerase reconstituted with either the sigma 35 or sigma 28 polypeptide directs transcription from B. subtilis promoters recognized by B. subtilis RNA polymerase containing sigma E and sigma K, respectively. Thus, sigma 35 and sigma 28 of B. thuringiensis appear to be functionally equivalent to sigma E and sigma K of B. subtilis. However, unlike the situation for sigma K in B. subtilis, the homologous sigma 28 gene in B. thuringiensis does not result from a late-sporulation-phase chromosomal rearrangement of two separate, partial genes.

Related Genes
cryIA(a) spoIIGA spoIIIG
MeSH Terms
Amino Acid Sequence Bacillus subtilis/genetics Bacillus thuringiensis/genetics Bacillus thuringiensis Toxins Bacterial Proteins/genetics Bacterial Toxins Base Sequence Chromosomes, Bacterial Cloning, Molecular Endotoxins Genes, Bacterial Hemolysin Proteins Molecular Sequence Data Nucleic Acid Hybridization Plasmids Polymerase Chain Reaction Promoter Regions, Genetic Restriction Mapping Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid Sigma Factor/genetics Transcription, Genetic
Chemicals
Bacillus thuringiensis Toxins Bacterial Proteins Bacterial Toxins Endotoxins Hemolysin Proteins Sigma Factor insecticidal crystal protein, Bacillus Thuringiensis
Authors & Affiliations
3 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Adams L F
Department of Microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle 98195.
Brown K L
Whiteley H R
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Article Info
Journal
Journal of bacteriology
Abbr.
J Bacteriol
ISSN
0021-9193
DOI
10.1128/jb.173.12.3846-3854.1991
Published
1991-06-00
Pages
3846-54
Language
English
Region
United States
NLM ID
2985120R
PMCID
PMC208016
Subset
IM
Grants
NIGMS NIH HHS · GM-11715 · United States
NIGMS NIH HHS · K6-GM-442 · United States
NIGMS NIH HHS · T32-GM-07270 · United States
Databases
GENBANK
M61752, M62938, M62939, M62940, M62941, M62942, M62943, M62944, M62945, X56696, X56697
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1128/jb.173.12.3846-3854.1991 PMC Full Text View journal details
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