Arginine dephosphorylation propels spore germination in bacteria.

ABSTRACT: Bacterial spores can remain dormant for years but possess the remarkable ability to germinate, within minutes, once nutrients become available. However, it still remains elusive how such instant awakening of cellular machineries is achieved. Utilizing Bacillus subtilis as a model, we show that YwlE arginine (Arg) phosphatase is crucial for spore germination. Accordingly, the absence of the Arg kinase McsB accelerated the process. Arg phosphoproteome of dormant spores uncovered a unique set of Arg-phosphorylated proteins involved in key biological functions, including translation and transcription. Consequently, we demonstrate that during germination, YwlE dephosphorylates an Arg site on the ribosome-associated chaperone Tig, enabling its association with the ribosome to reestablish

SUBMITTER: Zhou B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6628785 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature