1. A sulfide-sensor and a sulfane sulfur-sensor collectively regulate sulfur-oxidation for feather degradation by Bacillus licheniformis.
- Author
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Tang, Chao, Li, Jingjing, Shen, Yuemeng, Liu, Menghui, Liu, Honglei, Liu, Huaiwei, Xun, Luying, and Xia, Yongzhen
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BACILLUS licheniformis , *BACILLUS (Bacteria) , *FEATHERS , *GENE clusters , *GENE expression , *KERATIN , *SULFUR compounds - Abstract
Bacillus licheniformis MW3 degrades bird feathers. Feather keratin is rich in cysteine, which is metabolized to produce hazardous sulfide and sulfane sulfur. A challenge to B. licheniformis MW3 growing on feathers is to detoxify them. Here we identified a gene cluster in B. licheniformis MW3 to deal with these toxicity. The cluster contains 11 genes: the first gene yrkD encodes a repressor, the 8th and 9th genes nreB and nreC encode a two-component regulatory system, and the 10th and 11th genes encode sulfide: quinone reductase (SQR) and persulfide oxygenase (PDO). SQR and PDO collectively oxidize sulfide and sulfane sulfur to sulfite. YrkD sensed sulfane sulfur to derepress the 11 genes. The NreBC system sensed sulfide and further amplified the transcription of sqr and pdo. The two regulatory systems synergistically controlled the expression of the gene cluster, which was required for the bacterium to grow on feather. The findings highlight the necessity of removing sulfide and sulfane sulfur during feather degradation and may help with bioremediation of feather waste and sulfide pollution. The feather-degrading bacterium Bacillus licheniformis MW3 contains a sulfur-metabolizing gene cluster, in which one sulfide-sensor and one sulfane sulfur-sensor synergistically control gene expression, enabling the bacterium to grow on bird feathers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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