Time-resolved transcriptomics and bioinformatic analyses reveal intrinsic stress responses during batch culture of Bacillus subtilis.

We have determined the time-resolved transcriptome of the model gram-positive organism B. subtilis during growth in a batch fermentor on rich medium. DNA microarrays were used to monitor gene transcription using 10-minute intervals at 40 consecutive time points.

Regulon of the N-acetylglucosamine utilization regulator NagR in Bacillus subtilis.

N-Acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) is the most abundant carbon-nitrogen biocompound on earth and has been shown to be an important source of nutrients for both catabolic and anabolic purposes in Bacillus species. In this work we show that the GntR family regulator YvoA of Bacillus subtilis serves as a negative transcriptional regulator of GlcNAc catabolism gene expression. YvoA represses transcription by binding a 16-bp sequence upstream of nagP encoding the GlcNAc-specific EIIBC component of the sugar phosphotransferase system involved in GlcNAc transport and phosphorylation, as well as another very similar 16-bp sequence upstream of the nagAB-yvoA locus, wherein nagA codes for N-acetylglucosamine-6-phosphate deacetylase and nagB codes for the glucosamine-6-phosphate (GlcN-6-P) deaminase.

Production and secretion stress caused by overexpression of heterologous alpha-amylase leads to inhibition of sporulation and a prolonged motile phase in Bacillus subtilis.

Transcriptome analysis was used to investigate the global stress response of the gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis caused by overproduction of the well-secreted AmyQ alpha-amylase from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens. Analyses of the control and overproducing strains were carried out at the end of exponential growth and in stationary phase, when protein secretion from B. subtilis is optimal.

Transcriptome analysis of temporal regulation of carbon metabolism by CcpA in Bacillus subtilis reveals additional target genes.

The pleiotropic regulator of carbon metabolism in Gram-positive bacteria, CcpA, regulates gene expression by binding to so-called cre elements, which are located either upstream or in promoter regions, or in open-reading frames. In this study we compared the transcriptomes of Bacillus subtilis 168 and its ccpA deletion mutant during growth in glucose-containing rich medium. Although growth was similar, glucose was completely consumed by the wild-type strain in the stationary phase, while it was still present in the culture of the mutant.