Effect of the Bacillus atrophaeus subsp. globigii Spo0F H101R mutation on strain fitness.

ABSTRACT: Sporulation is a critical developmental process in Bacillus spp. that, once initiated, removes the possibility of further growth until germination. Therefore, the threshold conditions triggering sporulation are likely to be subject to evolutionary constraint. Our previous studies revealed two spontaneous hypersporulating mutants of Bacillus atrophaeus subsp. globigii, both containing point mutations in the spo0F gene. One of these strains (Detrick-2; contains the spo0F101 allele with a C:T [His101Arg] substitution) had been deliberately selected in the early 1940s as an anthrax surrogate. To determine whether the experimental conditions used during the selection of the "military" strains could have supported the emergence of hypersporulating variants, the relative fitness of strain Detrick

SUBMITTER: Zhelev DV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3502920 | biostudies-literature | 2012 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature