ZpdN, a Plasmid-Encoded Sigma Factor Homolog, Induces pBS32-Dependent Cell Death in Bacillus subtilis.

ABSTRACT: The ancestral Bacillus subtilis strain 3610 contains an 84-kb plasmid called pBS32 that was lost during domestication of commonly used laboratory derivatives. Here we demonstrate that pBS32, normally present at 1 or 2 copies per cell, increases in copy number nearly 100-fold when cells are treated with the DNA-damaging agent mitomycin C. Mitomycin C treatment also caused cell lysis dependent on pBS32-borne prophage genes. ZpdN, a sigma factor homolog encoded by pBS32, was required for the plasmid response to DNA damage, and artificial expression of ZpdN was sufficient to induce pBS32 hyperreplication and cell death. Plasmid DNA released by cell death was protected by the capsid protein ZpbH, suggesting that the plasmid was packaged into a phagelike particle. The putative particles were fur

SUBMITTER: Myagmarjav BE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5055602 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature