Identification of the sigmaB regulon of Bacillus cereus and conservation of sigmaB-regulated genes in low-GC-content gram-positive bacteria.

ABSTRACT: The alternative sigma factor sigma(B) has an important role in the acquisition of stress resistance in many gram-positive bacteria, including the food-borne pathogen Bacillus cereus. Here, we describe the identification of the set of sigma(B)-regulated genes in B. cereus by DNA microarray analysis of the transcriptome upon a mild heat shock. Twenty-four genes could be identified as being sigma(B) dependent as witnessed by (i) significantly lower expression levels of these genes in mutants with a deletion of sigB and rsbY (which encode the alternative sigma factor sigma(B) and a crucial positive regulator of sigma(B) activity, respectively) than in the parental strain B. cereus ATCC 14579 and (ii) increased expression of these genes upon a heat shock. Newly identified sigma(B)-dependent gen

SUBMITTER: van Schaik W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1913364 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature