WalK

• Description: two-component sensor kinase, controls cell wall metabolism, co-ordinates cell wall remodelling with cell division by controlling the transcription of genes for autolysins and their inhibitors
  
  

Gene name	walK
Synonyms	yycG
Essential	yes PubMed
Product	two-component sensor kinase (OmpR family)
Function	control of cell wall metabolism
Interactions involving this protein in SubtInteract: WalK
MW, pI	69 kDa, 4.775
Gene length, protein length	1833 bp, 611 aa
Immediate neighbours	yycH, walR
Get the DNA and protein sequences (Barbe et al., 2009)
Genetic context This image was kindly provided by SubtiList

Categories containing this gene/protein

cell wall/ other, protein modification, transcription factors and their control, essential genes, membrane proteins, phosphoproteins

The gene

Basic information

• Locus tag: BSU40400

Phenotypes of a mutant

essential PubMed

Database entries

• DBTBS entry: [1]

• SubtiList entry: [2]

The protein

Basic information/ Evolution

• Catalyzed reaction/ biological activity: autophosphorylation, phosphorylation of WalR

• Protein family: two-component sensor kinase of the OmpR family

• Paralogous protein(s):

Extended information on the protein

• Kinetic information:

• Domains: two transmembrane segments, C-terminal histidine phosphotransferase domain

• Modification: autophosphorylation on a His residue

• Cofactor(s):

• Effectors of protein activity:

• Interactions:
  • WalK-WalR, WalK-YycH PubMed, WalK-YycI PubMed, WalK-DivIB PubMed, WalK-FtsL PubMed, WalK-PbpB PubMed

• Localization:
  • cell membrane PubMed
  • part of the division septum in growing cells, interacts with the divisome PubMed

Database entries

• Structure:

• UniProt: Q45614

• KEGG entry: [3]

• E.C. number:

Expression and regulation

• Operon: walR-walK-yycH-yycI-walJ-yyxA PubMed

• Expression browser: walK PubMed

• Sigma factor:

• Regulation: expressed during vegetative growth, repressed during stationary phase PubMed

• Regulatory mechanism:

• Additional information:

Biological materials

• Mutant:

• Expression vector:

• lacZ fusion:

• GFP fusion:

• two-hybrid system:

• Antibody:

References

Reviews

Sarah Dubrac, Paola Bisicchia, Kevin M Devine, Tarek Msadek
A matter of life and death: cell wall homeostasis and the WalKR (YycGF) essential signal transduction pathway.
Mol Microbiol: 2008, 70(6);1307-22
[PubMed:19019149] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

Sarah Dubrac, Tarek Msadek
Tearing down the wall: peptidoglycan metabolism and the WalK/WalR (YycG/YycF) essential two-component system.
Adv Exp Med Biol: 2008, 631;214-28
[PubMed:18792692] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (P p)

Malcolm E Winkler, James A Hoch
Essentiality, bypass, and targeting of the YycFG (VicRK) two-component regulatory system in gram-positive bacteria.
J Bacteriol: 2008, 190(8);2645-8
[PubMed:18245295] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

C Fabret, V A Feher, J A Hoch
Two-component signal transduction in Bacillus subtilis: how one organism sees its world.
J Bacteriol: 1999, 181(7);1975-83
[PubMed:10094672] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (P p)

Original Publications

Tatsuya Fukushima, Isako Furihata, Robyn Emmins, Richard A Daniel, James A Hoch, Hendrik Szurmant
A role for the essential YycG sensor histidine kinase in sensing cell division.
Mol Microbiol: 2011, 79(2);503-22
[PubMed:21219466] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

Inga Jende, Kottayil I Varughese, Kevin M Devine
Amino acid identity at one position within the alpha1 helix of both the histidine kinase and the response regulator of the WalRK and PhoPR two-component systems plays a crucial role in the specificity of phosphotransfer.
Microbiology (Reading): 2010, 156(Pt 6);1848-1859
[PubMed:20167622] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

Ario Okada, Masayuki Igarashi, Toshihide Okajima, Naoko Kinoshita, Maya Umekita, Ryuichi Sawa, Kunio Inoue, Takafumi Watanabe, Akihiro Doi, Aaron Martin, John Quinn, Yoshio Nishimura, Ryutaro Utsumi
Walkmycin B targets WalK (YycG), a histidine kinase essential for bacterial cell growth.
J Antibiot (Tokyo): 2010, 63(2);89-94
[PubMed:20057515] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

Haiyan Zhao, Liang Tang
Crystallographic characterization of a multidomain histidine protein kinase from an essential two-component regulatory system.
Acta Crystallogr Sect F Struct Biol Cryst Commun: 2009, 65(Pt 4);346-9
[PubMed:19342776] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

Tatsuya Fukushima, Hendrik Szurmant, Eun-Ja Kim, Marta Perego, James A Hoch
A sensor histidine kinase co-ordinates cell wall architecture with cell division in Bacillus subtilis.
Mol Microbiol: 2008, 69(3);621-32
[PubMed:18573169] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

Hendrik Szurmant, Lintao Bu, Charles L Brooks, James A Hoch
An essential sensor histidine kinase controlled by transmembrane helix interactions with its auxiliary proteins.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A: 2008, 105(15);5891-6
[PubMed:18408157] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

Sarah Dubrac, Ivo Gomperts Boneca, Olivier Poupel, Tarek Msadek
New insights into the WalK/WalR (YycG/YycF) essential signal transduction pathway reveal a major role in controlling cell wall metabolism and biofilm formation in Staphylococcus aureus.
J Bacteriol: 2007, 189(22);8257-69
[PubMed:17827301] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

Paola Bisicchia, David Noone, Efthimia Lioliou, Alistair Howell, Sarah Quigley, Thomas Jensen, Hanne Jarmer, Kevin M Devine
The essential YycFG two-component system controls cell wall metabolism in Bacillus subtilis.
Mol Microbiol: 2007, 65(1);180-200
[PubMed:17581128] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (P p)

Patrick D McLaughlin, Benjamin G Bobay, Erin J Regel, Richele J Thompson, James A Hoch, John Cavanagh
Predominantly buried residues in the response regulator Spo0F influence specific sensor kinase recognition.
FEBS Lett: 2007, 581(7);1425-9
[PubMed:17350627] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (P p)

Hendrik Szurmant, Kristine Nelson, Eun-Ja Kim, Marta Perego, James A Hoch
YycH regulates the activity of the essential YycFG two-component system in Bacillus subtilis.
J Bacteriol: 2005, 187(15);5419-26
[PubMed:16030236] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (P p)

Alistair Howell, Sarah Dubrac, Kasper Krogh Andersen, David Noone, Juliette Fert, Tarek Msadek, Kevin Devine
Genes controlled by the essential YycG/YycF two-component system of Bacillus subtilis revealed through a novel hybrid regulator approach.
Mol Microbiol: 2003, 49(6);1639-55
[PubMed:12950927] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (P p)

Keisuke Fukuchi, Yasuhiro Kasahara, Kei Asai, Kazuo Kobayashi, Shigeki Moriya, Naotake Ogasawara
The essential two-component regulatory system encoded by yycF and yycG modulates expression of the ftsAZ operon in Bacillus subtilis.
Microbiology (Reading): 2000, 146 ( Pt 7);1573-1583
[PubMed:10878122] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (P p)

C Fabret, J A Hoch
A two-component signal transduction system essential for growth of Bacillus subtilis: implications for anti-infective therapy.
J Bacteriol: 1998, 180(23);6375-83
[PubMed:9829949] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (P p)