Spo0A

• Description: phosphorelay regulator, initiation of sporulation, coordinates DNA replication and initiation of sporulation by binding to sites close to the oriC
  
  

Gene name	spo0A
Synonyms	spo0C, spo0G, spoIIL, sof-1
Essential	no
Product	phosphorelay response regulator
Function	initiation of sporulation
Gene expression levels in SubtiExpress: spo0A
Interactions involving this protein in SubtInteract: Spo0A
Metabolic function and regulation of this protein in SubtiPathways: spo0A
MW, pI	29 kDa, 5.989
Gene length, protein length	801 bp, 267 aa
Immediate neighbours	yqiG, spoIVB
Sequences	Protein DNA DNA_with_flanks
Genetic context This image was kindly provided by SubtiList
Expression at a glance   PubMed

Categories containing this gene/protein

transcription factors and their control, phosphorelay, biofilm formation, phosphoproteins

This gene is a member of the following regulons

SigH regulon, Spo0A regulon

The gene

Basic information

• Locus tag: BSU24220

Phenotypes of a mutant

• inactivation of spo0A restores beta-lactam resistance in a sigM mutant PubMed
• altered cell death pattern in colonies PubMed

Database entries

• BsubCyc: BSU24220

• DBTBS entry: [1]

• SubtiList entry: [2]

The protein

Basic information/ Evolution

• Catalyzed reaction/ biological activity:
  • activation of gene expression at the onset of sporulation (Spo0A regulon)
  • coordination between DNA replication and initiation of sporulation by binding to sites close to the oriC (this limits re-initiation of replication) PubMed

• Protein family:

• Paralogous protein(s):

Extended information on the protein

• Kinetic information:

• Domains:

• Modification: receives phosphorylation from Spo0B, dephosphorylation by Spo0E, direct phosphorylation by KinC upon potassium leakage PubMed

• Cofactor(s):

• Effectors of protein activity:
  • the phosphorylation state affects DNA binding activity
  • interaction with MecA inhibits the transcriptional activity of Spo0A∼P PubMed

• Interactions:
  • KinC-Spo0A PubMed
  • Spo0A-Spo0E PubMed
  • Spo0A-SigA PubMed
  • Spo0A-Spo0B
  • SinI-Spo0A PubMed
  • MecA-Spo0A PubMed

• Localization:

Database entries

• BsubCyc: BSU24220

• Structure: 1QMP (with phosphorylated aspartate, Geobacillus stearothermophilus), 1FC3 (trans-activation domain, Geobacillus stearothermophilus), 1LQ1 (complex with DNA)

• UniProt: P06534

• KEGG entry: [3]

• E.C. number:

Expression and regulation

• Operon: spo0A PubMed

• Expression browser: spo0A PubMed

• Sigma factor: SigA PubMed, SigH PubMed

• Regulation:
  • repressed under conditions that trigger sporulation (Spo0A) PubMed
  • repressed by casamino acids PubMed
  • repressed by SinR overexpression PubMed
  • repressed by soj PubMed
  • expression increases when drowth rate declines PubMed

• Regulatory mechanism:
  • Spo0A: transcription repression PubMed
  • Spo0A synthesis is subject to a post-transcriptional control mechanism such that translation of mRNAs originating from the SigA-dependent promoter is impeded due to RNA secondary structure PubMed

• Additional information:
  • number of protein molecules per cell (minimal medium with glucose and ammonium, exponential phase): 394 PubMed
  • number of protein molecules per cell (minimal medium with glucose and ammonium, early stationary phase after glucose exhaustion): 358 PubMed
  • number of protein molecules per cell (minimal medium with glucose and ammonium, late stationary phase after glucose exhaustion): 1763 PubMed

Biological materials

• Mutant:
  • BKG9 (spo0A::aphA3), available in Jörg Stülke's lab
• Expression vector:

• lacZ fusion:

• GFP fusion:

• two-hybrid system:

• Antibody:

Labs working on this gene/protein

• Tony Wilkinson, York University, U.K. homepage
• Imrich Barak, Slovak Academy of Science, Bratislava, Slovakia homepage
• Charles Moran, Emory University, NC, USA homepage

References

Reviews

Liza Gross
Built-in timer delays differentiation.
PLoS Biol: 2012, 10(1);e1001254
[PubMed:22303284] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

José Eduardo González-Pastor
Cannibalism: a social behavior in sporulating Bacillus subtilis.
FEMS Microbiol Rev: 2011, 35(3);415-24
[PubMed:20955377] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

Michiel J L de Hoon, Patrick Eichenberger, Dennis Vitkup
Hierarchical evolution of the bacterial sporulation network.
Curr Biol: 2010, 20(17);R735-45
[PubMed:20833318] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

Tsutomu Katayama, Shogo Ozaki, Kenji Keyamura, Kazuyuki Fujimitsu
Regulation of the replication cycle: conserved and diverse regulatory systems for DnaA and oriC.
Nat Rev Microbiol: 2010, 8(3);163-70
[PubMed:20157337] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

Daniel López, Roberto Kolter
Extracellular signals that define distinct and coexisting cell fates in Bacillus subtilis.
FEMS Microbiol Rev: 2010, 34(2);134-49
[PubMed:20030732] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

Daniel Schultz, Peter G Wolynes, Eshel Ben Jacob, José N Onuchic
Deciding fate in adverse times: sporulation and competence in Bacillus subtilis.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A: 2009, 106(50);21027-34
[PubMed:19995980] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

S Seredick, G B Spiegelman
Lessons and questions from the structure of the Spo0A activation domain.
Trends Microbiol: 2001, 9(4);148-51
[PubMed:11286862] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (P p)

The Spo0A regulon

Masaya Fujita, José Eduardo González-Pastor, Richard Losick
High- and low-threshold genes in the Spo0A regulon of Bacillus subtilis.
J Bacteriol: 2005, 187(4);1357-68
[PubMed:15687200] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (P p)

Virginie Molle, Masaya Fujita, Shane T Jensen, Patrick Eichenberger, José E González-Pastor, Jun S Liu, Richard Losick
The Spo0A regulon of Bacillus subtilis.
Mol Microbiol: 2003, 50(5);1683-701
[PubMed:14651647] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (P p)