Plasmid-encoded genes influence exosporium assembly and morphology in Bacillus megaterium QM B1551 spores

FEMS Microbiology Letters
Julia ManetsbergerGraham Christie

Abstract

Spores of Bacillus megaterium QM B1551 are encased in a morphologically distinctive exosporium. We demonstrate here that genes encoded on the indigenous pBM500 and pBM600 plasmids are required for exosporium assembly and or stability in spores of this strain. Bioinformatic analyses identified genes encoding orthologues of the B. cereus-family exosporium nap and basal layer proteins within the B. megaterium genome. Transcriptional analyses, supported by electron and fluorescent microscopy, indicate that the pole-localized nap, identified here for the first time in B. megaterium QM B1551 spores, is comprised of the BclA1 protein. The role of the BxpB protein, which forms the basal layer of the exosporium in B. cereus spores, is less clear since spores of a null mutant strain display an apparently normal morphology. Retention of the localized nap in bxpB null spores suggests that B. megaterium employs an alternative mechanism to that used by B. cereus spores in anchoring the nap to the spore surface.

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Citations

Oct 30, 2015·Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews : MMBR·George C Stewart
Aug 12, 2018·Applied and Environmental Microbiology·Julia ManetsbergerGraham Christie
Nov 22, 2016·Frontiers in Microbiology·Mariamichela LanzilliRachele Isticato
Nov 14, 2018·Environmental Microbiology Reports·Danilo de Andrade CavalcanteAdam Driks
Apr 20, 2021·ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering·Yimin QiuJingjie Yeo
Jul 1, 2018·New Biotechnology·Mariamichela LanzilliRachele Isticato

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Methods Mentioned

BETA
PCR
transmission electron microscopy
electrophoresis
fluorescence microscopy
Fluorescence

Software Mentioned

BLAST
Gatan Digital Micrograph

Related Concepts