The Bacillus subtilis GntR family repressor YtrA responds to cell wall antibiotics

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Letal I Salzberg - , Cornell University (Author)
  • Yun Luo - (Author)
  • Anna-Barbara Hachmann - (Author)
  • Thorsten Mascher - , Chair of General Microbiology (Author)
  • John D Helmann - (Author)

Abstract

The transglycosylation step of cell wall synthesis is a prime antibiotic target because it is essential and specific to bacteria. Two antibiotics, ramoplanin and moenomycin, target this step by binding to the substrate lipid II and the transglycosylase enzyme, respectively. Here, we compare the ramoplanin and moenomycin stimulons in the Gram-positive model organism Bacillus subtilis. Ramoplanin strongly induces the LiaRS two-component regulatory system, while moenomycin almost exclusively induces genes that are part of the regulon of the extracytoplasmic function (ECF) σ factor σ(M). Ramoplanin additionally induces the ytrABCDEF and ywoBCD operons, which are not part of a previously characterized antibiotic-responsive regulon. Cluster analysis reveals that these two operons are selectively induced by a subset of cell wall antibiotics that inhibit lipid II function or recycling. Repression of both operons requires YtrA, which recognizes an inverted repeat in front of its own operon and in front of ywoB. These results suggest that YtrA is an additional regulator of cell envelope stress responses.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)5793-5801
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of bacteriology
Volume193
Issue number20
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2011
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMedCentral PMC3187214
Scopus 80053600422

Keywords

Keywords

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents/pharmacology, Bacillus subtilis/drug effects, Bacterial Proteins/genetics, Cell Wall/drug effects, Depsipeptides/pharmacology, Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial/drug effects, Oligosaccharides/pharmacology, Operon/drug effects, Regulon/drug effects