Journal
JOURNAL OF BACTERIOLOGY
Volume 195, Issue 2, Pages 253-260Publisher
AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY
DOI: 10.1128/JB.01778-12
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Funding
- Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) Rubicon grant
- Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation [1660]
- National Institutes of Health [GM18568]
- NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF GENERAL MEDICAL SCIENCES [R37GM018568, R01GM018568] Funding Source: NIH RePORTER
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The capacity to form endospores is unique to certain members of the low-G+C group of Gram-positive bacteria (Firmicutes) and requires signature sporulation genes that are highly conserved across members of distantly related genera, such as Clostridium and Bacillus. Using gene conservation among endospore-forming bacteria, we identified eight previously uncharacterized genes that are enriched among endospore-forming species. The expression of five of these genes was dependent on sporulation-specific transcription factors. Mutants of none of the genes exhibited a conspicuous defect in sporulation, but mutants of two, ylxY and ylyA, were outcompeted by a wild-type strain under sporulation-inducing conditions, but not during growth. In contrast, a ylmC mutant displayed a slight competitive advantage over the wild type specific to sporulation-inducing conditions. The phenotype of a ylyA mutant was ascribed to a defect in spore germination efficiency. This work demonstrates the power of combining phylogenetic profiling with reverse genetics and gene-regulatory studies to identify unrecognized genes that contribute to a conserved developmental process.
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