ComI inhibits transformation in Bacillus subtilis by selectively killing competent cells.

ABSTRACT: Many bacteria build elaborate molecular machines to import DNA via natural competence, yet this activity is often not identified until strains have been handled and domesticated in laboratory settings. For example, one of the best studied Gram-positive model organisms, Bacillus subtilis, has a poorly transformable ancestor. Transformation in the ancestral strain is inhibited by a transmembrane peptide, ComI, which is encoded on an extrachromosomal plasmid. Although ComI was shown to be necessary and sufficient to inhibit transformation when produced at high levels under an inducible promoter, the mechanism by which ComI inhibits transformation is unknown. Here, we examine the native regulation and mechanism of transformation inhibition by ComI. We find that under native regulation,

SUBMITTER: Smith DR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11270867 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature