Lowering GTP level increases survival of amino acid starvation but slows growth rate for Bacillus subtilis cells lacking (p)ppGpp.

ABSTRACT: Bacterial cells sense external nutrient availability to regulate macromolecular synthesis and consequently their growth. In the Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis, the starvation-inducible nucleotide (p)ppGpp negatively regulates GTP levels, both to resist nutritional stress and to maintain GTP homeostasis during growth. Here, we quantitatively investigated the relationship between GTP level, survival of amino acid starvation, and growth rate when GTP synthesis is uncoupled from its major homeostatic regulator, (p)ppGpp. We analyzed growth and nucleotide levels in cells that lack (p)ppGpp and found that their survival of treatment with a nonfunctional amino acid analog negatively correlates with both growth rate and GTP level. Manipulation of GTP levels modulates the exponential gro

SUBMITTER: Bittner AN 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4010990 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature