Bacillus subtilis
Observation | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyTumble Suppression Is a Conserved Feature of Swarming MotilityBacteria within a swarm move characteristically in packs, displaying an intricate swirling motion in which hundreds of dynamic rafts continuously form and dissociate as the swarm colonizes an increasing expanse of territory. The demonstrated property of E. coli to reduce its tumble bias and hence increase its run duration during swarming is expected to maintain and...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyCyclic di-GMP Signaling in Bacillus subtilis Is Governed by Direct Interactions of Diguanylate Cyclases and Cognate ReceptorsSecond messengers are free to diffuse through the cells and to activate all responsive elements. Cyclic di-GMP (c-di-GMP) signaling plays an important role in the determination of the life style transition between motility and sessility/biofilm formation but involves numerous distinct synthetases (diguanylate cyclases [DGCs]) or receptor pathways that appear to act in an independent manner. Using...
Letter to the Editor | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyConcerns about Continuing Claims that a Protein Complex Interacts with the Phosphorelay
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyDynamic Membrane Localization of RNase Y in Bacillus subtilisAll living organisms must degrade mRNA to adapt gene expression to changing environments. In bacteria, initiation of mRNA decay generally occurs through an endonucleolytic cleavage. In the Gram-positive model organism Bacillus subtilis and probably many other bacteria, the key enzyme for this task is RNase Y, which is anchored at the inner cell membrane. While this...
Commentary | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyA Bumpy Pathway to Stationary-Phase Survival in Bacillus subtilisBacillus subtilis cells can mount a number of responses to nutritional deprivation but ultimately either form dormant spores or enter a metabolically quiescent state. In a recent article (mBio 10:e01414-19, https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.01414-19, 2019), R. Hashuel and S.
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyStructure-Function Studies of the Bacillus subtilis Ric Proteins Identify the Fe-S Cluster-Ligating Residues and Their Roles in Development and RNA ProcessingThe RicA, RicF, and RicT proteins are widely conserved among the firmicute bacteria and play multiple roles in Bacillus subtilis. Among the phenotypes associated with the inactivation of these proteins are the inability to be genetically transformed or to form biofilms, a decrease in sporulation frequency, and changes in the stability and maturation of multiple RNA...
Editor's Pick Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyAging of a Bacterial Colony Enforces the Evolvement of Nondifferentiating MutantsUntil now, bacterial cells facing nutrient deprivation were shown to enter dormancy as a strategy to survive prolonged stress, with the most established examples being sporulation, stationary phase, and persistence. Here, we uncovered an opposing strategy for long-term bacterial survival, in which mutant subpopulations cope with a challenging niche by proliferating rather than by stalling division. We show that this feature stems from...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyMetabolic Remodeling during Biofilm Development of Bacillus subtilisBacterial biofilms are ubiquitous in natural environments and play an important role in many clinical, industrial, and ecological settings. Although much is known about the transcriptional regulatory networks that control biofilm formation in model bacteria such as Bacillus subtilis, very little is known about the role of metabolism in this complex developmental...
Commentary | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyBacillus subtilis Biofilms: a Matter of Individual Choice...Bacillus subtilis has the capacity to choose between two mutually exclusive lifestyles: biofilm formation and flagellum-mediated swimming motility. Interestingly, this choice is made at the individual cell level, with bacterial cells in a population expressing genes required for biofilm formation or genes required for swimming motility but not both.
- Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyFluorescently Labeled DNA Interacts with Competence and Recombination Proteins and Is Integrated and Expressed Following Natural Transformation of Bacillus subtilis
We used DNA that was covalently labeled with fluorescent nucleotides to investigate the transformation process of Bacillus subtilis at the molecular level. We show that the labeled DNA colocalizes with components of the competence machinery, the chromosome, and the recombination protein RecA. Using time-lapse microscopy and microfluidics, we visualized, in real-time,...