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The SpoIIQ-SpoIIIAH complex of Clostridium difficile controls forespore engulfment and late stages of gene expression and spore morphogenesis.

Authors :
Serrano M
Crawshaw AD
Dembek M
Monteiro JM
Pereira FC
Pinho MG
Fairweather NF
Salgado PS
Henriques AO
Source :
Molecular microbiology [Mol Microbiol] 2016 Apr; Vol. 100 (1), pp. 204-28. Date of Electronic Publication: 2016 Feb 12.
Publication Year :
2016

Abstract

Engulfment of the forespore by the mother cell is a universal feature of endosporulation. In Bacillus subtilis, the forespore protein SpoIIQ and the mother cell protein SpoIIIAH form a channel, essential for endosporulation, through which the developing spore is nurtured. The two proteins also form a backup system for engulfment. Unlike in B. subtilis, SpoIIQ of Clostridium difficile has intact LytM zinc-binding motifs. We show that spoIIQ or spoIIIAH deletion mutants of C. difficile result in anomalous engulfment, and that disruption of the SpoIIQ LytM domain via a single amino acid substitution (H120S) impairs engulfment differently. SpoIIQ and SpoIIQ(H120S) interact with SpoIIIAH throughout engulfment. SpoIIQ, but not SpoIIQ(H120S) , binds Zn(2+) , and metal absence alters the SpoIIQ-SpoIIIAH complex in vitro. Possibly, SpoIIQ(H120S) supports normal engulfment in some cells but not a second function of the complex, required following engulfment completion. We show that cells of the spoIIQ or spoIIIAH mutants that complete engulfment are impaired in post-engulfment, forespore and mother cell-specific gene expression, suggesting a channel-like function. Both engulfment and a channel-like function may be ancestral functions of SpoIIQ-SpoIIIAH while the requirement for engulfment was alleviated through the emergence of redundant mechanisms in B. subtilis and related organisms.<br /> (© 2015 The Authors. Molecular Microbiology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
1365-2958
Volume :
100
Issue :
1
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Molecular microbiology
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
26690930
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1111/mmi.13311