Analysis of RNase P protein (rnpA) expression in Bacillus subtilis utilizing strains with suppressible rnpA expression.

ABSTRACT: Bacterial RNase P is composed of an RNA subunit and a single protein subunit (encoded by the rnpB and rnpA genes, respectively). We constructed Bacillus subtilis mutant strains that conditionally express the RNase P protein under control of the xylose promoter (P(xyl)). In one strain (d7), rnpA expression was efficiently repressed in the absence of the inducer xylose, leading to cell growth arrest. Growth could be restored by a second functional rnpA allele. This is the first RNase P protein knockdown strain, providing the first direct proof that the rnpA gene is essential in B. subtilis and, by inference, in other bacteria. We further show (i) that, in the wild-type context, rnpA expression is attenuated by transcriptional polarity and (ii) that translation of rnpA mRNA in B. subtilis can

SUBMITTER: Gossringer M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1595511 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature