Developmentally-regulated proteolysis by MdfA and ClpCP mediates metabolic differentiation during sporulation.

sporulation entails a dramatic transformation of the two cells required to assemble a dormant spore, with the larger mother cell engulfing the smaller forespore to produce the cell-within-a-cell structure that is a hallmark of endospore formation. Sporulation also entails metabolic differentiation, whereby key metabolic enzymes are depleted from the forespore but maintained in the mother cell. This reduces the metabolic potential of the forespore, which becomes dependent on mother-cell metabolism and the SpoIIQ-SpoIIIA channel to obtain metabolic building blocks necessary for development.

Evolution: A quantity-quality trade-off constrains the evolution of immortality in bacterial endospores.

Bacterial endospores are extremely resilient cells, capable of withstanding the most dramatic environmental challenges. New work identifies a trade-off between resistance to UV radiation and germination efficiency, a trade-off mediated by an unexpected sporulation 'contingency locus'.

Catabolism of germinant amino acids is required to prevent premature spore germination in .

Unlabelled: Spores of germinate in response to specific germinant molecules that are recognized by receptors in the spore envelope. Germinants signal to the dormant spore that the environment can support vegetative growth, so many germinants, such as alanine and valine, are also essential metabolites. As such, they are also required to build the spore.

Asymmetric localization of the cell division machinery during sporulation.

The Gram-positive bacterium can divide via two modes. During vegetative growth, the division septum is formed at the midcell to produce two equal daughter cells. However, during sporulation, the division septum is formed closer to one pole to yield a smaller forespore and a larger mother cell.

Metabolic differentiation and intercellular nurturing underpin bacterial endospore formation.

Despite intensive research, the role of metabolism in bacterial sporulation remains poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that sporulation entails a marked metabolic differentiation of the two cells comprising the sporangium: the forespore, which becomes the dormant spore, and the mother cell, which dies as sporulation completes. Our data provide evidence that metabolic precursor biosynthesis becomes restricted to the mother cell and that the forespore becomes reliant on mother cell-derived metabolites for protein synthesis.