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Journal of Bacteriology, February 2004, p . 1129-1135, Vol .
186, No . 4
Assembly of Multiple CotC Forms into the Bacillus subtilis Spore Coat
Rachele Isticato,1 Giovanni Esposito,1 Rita
Zilhão,2,3 Sofia Nolasco,3,
Giuseppina Cangiano,1 Maurilio De Felice,1 Adriano O .
Henriques,2 and Ezio Ricca1*
Dipartimento di Fisiologia Generale ed Ambientale, Università Federico II,
Naples, Italy,1 Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica,
Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2781-901 Oeiras,2 Departmento de
Biologia Vegetal, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal3
Received 2 July 2003/ Accepted 12 September 2003
We report evidence that the CotC polypeptide, a previously identified
component of the Bacillus subtilis spore coat, is assembled
into at least four distinct forms . Two of these, having molecular
masses of 12 and 21 kDa, appeared 8 h after the onset of sporulation
and were probably assembled on the forming spore immediatelyafter
their synthesis, since no accumulation of either of themwas detected
in the mother cell compartment, where their synthesisoccurs . The
other two components, 12.5 and 30 kDa, were generated2 h later and
were probably the products of posttranslationalmodifications of the
two early forms occurring directly on thecoat surface during spore
maturation . None of the CotC formswas found either on the spore coat
or in the mother cell compartmentof a cotH mutant . This
indicates that CotH serves a dual roleof stabilizing the early forms
of CotC and promoting the assemblyof both early and late forms on
the spore surface.
The Bacillus subtilis spore is encased within a complex multilayered
protein structure known as the coat, whose role is to protect
the spore against bactericidal enzymes and chemicals, such as
lysozyme and chloroform, and to influence the spore's abilityto
germinate in response to appropriate germinants . However,the recent
finding that a component of the B . subtilis coathas laccase
activity [20] suggests that the coat may have other,
so far unexplored, roles . The coat is composed of a heterogeneous
group of over 25 polypeptides arranged into three main structural
layers: a diffuse undercoat, a laminated lightly staining inner
layer, and a thick electron-dense outer coat . Several of these
polypeptides have been studied, and their structural genes [cot
genes] have been identified . Expression of all cot genes is
governed by a cascade of four transcription factors, acting
specifically in the mother cell compartment of the sporangiumin the
sequence sigma E-SpoIIID-sigma K-GerE, with sigma E andsigma K being
RNA polymerase sigma factors and SpoIIID and GerEbeing DNA-binding
proteins acting in conjunction with sigmaE- and sigma K-driven RNA
polymerase [5, 11].
In addition to the transcriptional control, a variety of posttranslational
modifications have been shown to occur during coat formation.
At least two coat-associated polypeptides [of about 8 and 9kDa]
appear to be glycosylated [11], while others are derived
from proteolytic processing of larger precursors [1,
3, 27].Cross-linking of
structural proteins is also believed to occurand result in the
insolubilization of specific components . Sinceseveral coat proteins
are tyrosine rich and since dityrosinebonds are present in purified
coat material, it is believedthat this type of modification may
contribute to the assemblyand function of the coat [13] .
Also [ -glutamyl]lysine
cross-linksare found in purified spores, and a coat-associated
transglutaminasehas been identified [17] . The
occurrence of transglutaminase-dependentcross-linking of the
outermost coat layer has been suggested[12].
The initial stages in coat assembly occur early after the onsetof
sporulation and involve functional interactions among atleast two
morphogenetic proteins, both made under sigma E control.First, the
SpoIVA protein localizes at the outer forespore membrane.Second,
SpoIVA directs the assembly of CotE in a ring-like structurethat
surrounds the forespore at a distance of about 75 nm fromit [6] .
The gap generated by the localization of SpoIVA andCotE is thought
to be the site of assembly of the inner coatcomponents . Within this
region, the inner coat may correspondto the more internal sector,
adjacent to the SpoIVA protein.In contrast, the outer coat proteins
are assembled on the outsideof the CotE structure [5,
11] . Additional proteins with morphogenetic
functions are needed for coat formation . SpoVID and SafA aremade
under sigma E control; SpoVID interacts with SafA and directsit to
the forming spore and is also required to maintain theCotE ring
around the forespore [5, 11,
23] . In contrast CotHis a morphogenetic protein produced under
sigma K control thatplays a role in outer coat assembly and the
lysozyme resistanceof the spore and that, in conjunction with CotE,
is also responsiblefor efficient spore germination [21,
33].
Most coat components are produced at late stages of sporulation,
with some proteins, such as CotD, CotT, and CotS, targeted tothe
inner coat, and others, such as CotB, CotC, and CotG, directedto the
outer coat [11] . Of these outer coat components, CotB
has been recently identified as exposed on the spore surface[7,
15].
This study focuses on the incorporation of CotC into the coat
structure and on how this event is controlled by the morphogenetic
protein CotH . CotC is a coat component initially identifiedby a
reverse genetic approach [4] and later associated with
the outer coat layer [32] . Together with CotD and CotG,
CotCrepresents about 50% of the total solubilized coat proteins
and, being alkali soluble, can be selectively extracted from
purified spores by an NaOH treatment [11] . CotC is highly
similarto the protein encoded by ynzH, an open reading frame
identifiedduring the analysis of the B . subtilis genome [18],
and hasrecently been proposed as a new coat component and renamed
CotU[19] . CotC and CotU have almost identical
N-terminal regions,diverging in only 1 out of 24 amino acid
residues . In addition,CotC is also relatively similar to CotG, and,
intriguingly,assembly of both CotC and CotG proteins is under the
controlof the morphogenetic protein CotH [21].
Bacterial strains and transformation. B . subtilis
strains utilized are listed in Table 1 . Plasmid
amplification for nucleotide sequencing, subcloning experiments,and
transformation of Escherichia coli competent cells were
performed with E . coli strain DH5
[26] . Bacterial strains weretransformed by
previously described procedures for CaCl2-mediated
transformation of E . coli competent cells [26] and
two-steptransformation of B . subtilis [2].
| TABLE 1 . B . subtilis strains
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Genetic and molecular procedures. Isolation of plasmids,
restriction digestion, and ligation ofDNA were carried out by
standard methods [26] . Chromosomal DNAfrom B .
subtilis was isolated as described elsewhere [2] .
Fragmentsof cotC and cotU DNA were amplified by PCR
from the B . subtilischromosome, and the amplification was
primed with the syntheticoligonucleotides listed in Table
2 . The PCR products were visualizedon ethidium
bromide-stained agarose gels and gel purified bythe QIAquick gel
extraction kit [Qiagen] as specified by themanufacturer.
| TABLE 2 . Synthetic oligonucleotides
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A cotU null mutant was obtained by transforming competent cells
of the B . subtilis strain PY79 with plasmid pRH41, carrying
a neomycin resistance [neo] cassette in the cotU coding
region.A purified 274-bp DNA fragment originating from the
amplificationof B . subtilis chromosomal DNA with Ys2 and Ya2
oligonucleotides[Table 2] was digested with NotI
and EcoRI and cloned into plasmidpBEST501 [16] .
The plasmid obtained was cleaved with SphI andSalI and
used to clone, to the 5' end of the neo cassette, asecond PCR
fragment of 242 bp, originating from amplificationof the B .
subtilis chromosome with Ys1 and Ya1 oligonucleotides[Table
2] . Neor clones were the result of double-crossover
recombination,resulting in the interruption of the cotU gene
on the B . subtilischromosome . Several Neor clones
were analyzed by PCR, and oneof them, RH202, was used for further
studies . The cotU nullmutation was then moved by chromosomal
DNA-mediated transformationto the following isogenic strains [Table
1]: BD063 [cotA], generatingRH214; BD071 [cotC],
generating RH203; ER203, [cotG], generatingRH217; ER209 [cotH],
generating RH216; RH211, [cotE] generatingRH218; and RH201 [cotB],
generating RH213.
Strain RH211 was obtained by transforming strain BZ213 [cotE::cat]
with a linearized form of plasmid pJL62 [cat::spc] [a gift
fromA . Grossman] to inactivate cat and introduce a
spectinomycinresistance gene . Several clones resistant to
spectinomycin butsensitive to chloramphenicol were isolated, and one
of them,RH211, was used for further studies.
cotC expression in E . coli. The cotC
coding region was amplified by PCR from B . subtilis
chromosomal DNA with primers CotCcoding and CotCSTOP [Table
2] . The 210-bp PCR product was cleaved with XhoI and
SalI andligated into XhoI-digested expression vector
pRSETA [Invitrogen].The recombinant plasmid carrying an in-frame
fusion of the 5'end of the cotC coding region to six
histidine codons underthe transcriptional control of a T7 promoter
was used to transformcompetent cells of E . coli BL21[DE3]
[Invitrogen], yieldingstrain RH52 . This strain was grown in
ampicillin-supplemented[50 µg/ml] TY medium [26]
to an optical density of 0.7at 600 nm . The T7 promoter was then
induced by adding isopropyl-ß-D-thiogalactopyranoside
[IPTG; final concentration, 0.5 mM] to the culture, which was
incubated for 2 h at 37°C . The six-His-tagged CotC proteinwas
purified under denaturing conditions via Ni-nitrilotriaceticacid
affinity chromatography as recommended by the manufacturer[Qiagen,
Inc.].
Western blotting. Sporulation of wild-type and recombinant
strains was inducedby the exhaustion method [2,
22] . After a 30-h incubation at37°C, spores were
collected, washed four times, and purifiedby lysozyme treatment as
previously described [2, 22] . The number
of purified spores obtained was measured by direct counting
with a Bürker chamber under an optical microscope [Olympus;BH-2 with
40x lenses] . Aliquots of 1010
spores suspended in0.3 ml of distilled water were used to extract
coat proteinsby 0.1 N NaOH treatment at 4°C as previously reported [2].
The concentration of the extracted coat proteins was determined
by the Bio-Rad DC [detergent-compatible] protein assay to avoid
potential interference by the NaOH present [final concentration,0.2
to 0.6 mN] in the extraction buffer and 15 µg of totalproteins
fractionated on 18% denaturing poly-acrylamide gels.Proteins were
then electrotransferred to nitrocellulose filters[Bio-Rad] and used
for Western blot analysis by standard procedures.For the analysis of
sporulating cells samples were harvestedat various times during
sporulation and disrupted by sonicationin 25 mM Tris [pH 7.5]-0.1 M
NaCl-1 mM EDTA-15% [vol/vol] glycerol-0.1mg of phenylmethylsulfonyl
fluoride/ml . Sonicated material wasthen fractionated by
centrifugation at 12,000 x g for 20
min.The pellet, containing the forming spores resistant to the
sonicationtreatment, was solubilized by 0.1 N NaOH treatment at 4°C,
and the total protein concentration was determined as described
above . Fifty [mother cell extract] or 15 µg [foresporeextract] of
total proteins was fractionated on 18% denaturingpolyacrylamide
gels . Western blot filters were visualized bythe SuperSignal West
Pico chemiluminescence [Pierce] methodas specified by the
manufacturer.
CotC-specific antibodies were raised in rabbits immunized witha
14-amino-acid synthetic peptide [NH2-YDYVVEYKKHKKHY-COOH]
designed on the base of the C-terminal region of CotC [IGtech,
Salerno, Italy].
Yeast two-hybrid system. The Matchmaker two-hybrid system
[Clontech] was used as describedby Ozin et al . [23],
with only minor modifications . The cotCcoding region was
amplified by PCR using primer pair C/5/Ncoand C2 [Table
2] . The PCR product was digested with NcoI and
EcoRI and inserted between the same sites of plasmids pAS2-1
and pACT2 [Clontech] to create fusions to the Gal4 DNA binding
or activation domains, yielding plasmids pRZ99 and pRZ98, respectively.
Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains Y187 [MAT
ura3-52 his3-200ade2-101 trp1-901
leu2-3,112 gal4
met- gal80
URA3::GAL1UAS-GAL1TATA-HIS3]
and Y190 [MATa ura3-52 his3-200 ade2-101
lys2-801 trp1-901 leu2-3,112gal4
gal80
cyhr2 LYS2::URA::GAL1UAS-HIS3TATA-HIS3
URA3::GAL1UAS-GAL1TATA-HIS3]
[Clontech] were independently transformed with the pAS2-1 or
pACT-2 vector and/or each of the cotC constructs according to
the protocols suggested by the manufacturer . The resulting clones
were used in pairwise matings selecting for Leu and Trp . Colonylift
assays for detection of ß-galactosidase activitywere as described by
the manufacturer [Clontech].
Multiple cotC-dependent polypeptides are present in the spore
coat. The cotC gene of B . subtilis encodes a
66-amino-acid polypeptide[CotC] having a deduced molecular mass of
8.8 kDa but migratingon sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel
electrophoresis[SDS-PAGE] gel as a 12-kDa polypeptide [4] .
CotC has been identifiedas a component of the outer layer of the
coat [32], and itsassembly requires the action of
the morphogenetic protein CotH[21] . To study the
mechanism of CotC assembly in more detail,we raised specific
antibodies against a 14-amino-acid syntheticpeptide designed on the
basis of the CotC C-terminal sequenceand performed a Western blot
analysis on the coat protein fractionextracted from purified spores
of wild-type and isogenic cotCmutant strains [4] .
Anti-CotC antibodies recognized six polypeptidesin the coat proteins
of wild-type spores, five of which wereabsent in the coat protein
fraction of cotC null mutant spores[Fig . 1,
lanes 1 and 2] . The remaining 17-kDa polypeptide, presentalso in
cotC mutant spores, is evidently encoded by a differentgene and
is, therefore, not directly dependent on cotC expression[Fig.
1, lanes 1 and 2] . Only two of the five cotC-dependent
polypeptides [12 and 21 kDa] were extracted from wild-type spores
in amounts large enough to be observed by Coomassie blue staining
of the SDS-PAGE gel [data not shown].
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FIG . 1 . Western blot analysis of proteins extracted from spores of the
wild type [lane 1], cotC [lane 2] and cotU [lane 3] null
mutants, and a double cotC cotU null mutant [lane 4] . Proteins
were fractionated on 18% polyacrylamide gel and, upon electrotransfer on
nitrocellulose membranes, were reacted with CotC-specific rabbit
antibodies and then with peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibodies and
visualized by the Pierce method . Molecular mass markers are indicated on
the right . The estimated sizes of the polypeptides recognized by the
CotC-specific antibody are also indicated.
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Due to the high level of sequence similarity between CotC andthe
putative product of ynzH, an open reading frame identifiedin
the analysis of the B . subtilis genome [18], recently
identifiedas the coat component CotU [19], it was
possible that at leastsome of the polypeptides recognized by our
anti-CotC antibodieswere the product[s] of cotU expression .
To test this possibility,we constructed a cotU null mutant
[see Materials and Methods]and, by chromosomal-DNA-mediated
transformation, a double cotCcotU null mutant . Coat proteins
were extracted from purifiedspores and analyzed by Western blotting
with anti-CotC antibodies.In addition to the 17-kDa cotC-independent
polypeptide [seeabove], another polypeptide [23 kDa] was dependent
on the expressionof both cotC and cotU [Fig.
1] . We decided to focus our studyon the four
polypeptides exclusively dependent on cotC expression,and, to
optimize definition of these four bands, we used thecotU null
mutant in most of the Western blot experiments ofthis study.
Expression of cotC in E . coli produces two
polypeptides. The cotC gene was fused to codons for a six-His
tag at its 5'end, placed under the control of the T7lac
promoter, and introducedinto cells of the E . coli host
BL21[DE3] [Novagen] . Cells ofthe recombinant strain obtained, RH52,
were induced with IPTGand lysed as described in Materials and
Methods, and total proteinswere purified by affinity chromatography
on Ni2+ columns . Asshown in Fig . 2, two
polypeptides of 16 and 32 kDa were purifiedand both were recognized
by CotC-specific and six-His tag-specificantibodies . We identify the
16-kDa polypeptide as the six-His-CotCfusion product [4.5 and 8.8
kDa, respectively, with the lattermigrating with an apparent mass of
12 kDa; Fig . 1], whose expectedapparent mass is
16.5 kDa . The slower-migrating CotC polypeptide,with an apparent
mass of 32 kDa [Fig . 2], is most easily explained
if two CotC molecules are bound together . Based on this, wesuggest
that the faster-migrating protein corresponds to themonomeric form
of CotC, whereas the slower one results fromthe assembly of CotC
monomers into a homodimer . Cases of dimersand also oligomers
resistant to detergent treatment and strongreducing conditions have
been reported previously and are ratherfrequent [25,
28, 29].
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FIG . 2 . Coomassie-blue stained SDS-PAGE gel and Western blots of crude
extracts [Ext.] and Ni-nitrilotriacetic acid agarose column-purified
proteins [Pur.] of the IPTG-induced E . coli RH52 strain . Proteins
were fractionated on 18% polyacrylamide gel and visualized by Coomassie
blue staining of the gel or used to perform Western blot analysis with
anti-CotC- or anti-six-His-specific antibodies, as indicated . Molecular
mass markers are indicated on the right . The estimated sizes of
CotC-dependent polypeptides are also reported.
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CotC-CotC interaction in a yeast two-hybrid system. The results
shown in Fig . 2 suggested that the 12-kDa polypeptide
is most likely a CotC monomer able to self-interact to originate
a homodimer in E . coli without the action of specific B .
subtilisfactors . We used a yeast two-hybrid system [8,
9] to confirmthat CotC monomers can spontaneously
self-interact . The cotCcoding sequence was fused to either
the activation domain orthe DNA-binding domain of the yeast
transcriptional activatorGAL4, and the gene fusions were introduced
into yeast reporterstrains Y187 and Y190 [see Materials and
Methods] . Interactionof the fusion proteins within yeast cells
results in the expressionof a lacZ reporter gene [10] .
No ß-galactosidase activitywas detected when the individual fusion
proteins were expressedwith either control vector [data not shown] .
In contrast, aninteraction between CotC and itself was detected,
thus confirmingthe results of Fig . 2 and
indicating that CotC molecules havethe potential to self-interact.
Assembly of all CotC-dependent polypeptides depends on cotH
and cotE expression. Spores of strains carrying a cotU
null mutation along with anull mutation in one other cot gene
were solubilized by NaOHtreatment, and the released proteins were
compared with thosereleased by a strain with mutations only in
cotU [Fig . 3] . Thisanalysis showed that
CotC-dependent polypeptides of 30, 21,12.5, and 12 kDa were all
present in the cotU single mutantas well as in the cotU
cotA, cotU cotB, and cotU cotG doublemutants . All
four cotC-dependent polypeptides were absent instrains with
double-null mutation cotU cotH or cotU cotE [Fig.
3, lanes 5 and 7, respectively] . Moreover, the amount of the
30-kDa polypeptide extracted from cotU cotB mutant spores [Fig.
3, lane 6] was repeatedly less than that extracted from
sporeswith cotU mutations only [Fig . 3,
lane 2] . Identical resultswere obtained in the single null mutant
strains with mutationsin cotA, cotB, cotG,
cotH, or cotE [not shown], thus suggestingthat assembly
of all four cotC-dependent polypeptides in thespore coat
strictly requires cotE and cotH expression and that,in
addition, assembly of the 30-kDa polypeptide is partiallydependent
on cotB expression.
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FIG . 3 . Western blot of proteins extracted from spores of cotC cotU
[lane 1], cotU [lane 2], cotA cotU [lane 3], cotG cotU
[lane 4], cotH cotU [lane 5], cotB cotU [lane 6], and
cotE cotU [lane 7] mutants . Proteins were fractionated on 18%
polyacrylamide gel and, upon electrotransfer on nitrocellulose
membranes, were reacted with CotC-specific rabbit antibodies and then
with peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibodies and visualized by the
Pierce method . Molecular mass markers are indicated on the right . The
estimated sizes of CotC-dependent polypeptides are also reported.
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CotC 12.5- and 30-kDa polypeptides appear late during spore formation.
Sporulating cells of a cotU null mutant were harvested at various
times during sporulation and lysed by sonication as described
in Materials and Methods, and the forming spores surviving the
treatment were separated by centrifugation . The forming sporeswere
then extracted by alkali treatment, and the released proteinswere
compared with those present in the mother cell cytoplasm.For each
time point both protein fractions were analyzed byWestern blotting
with CotC-specific antibodies . At all timepoints analyzed we
detected no CotC-specific polypeptides inthe mother cell fraction
[Fig . 4] . In the forespore fraction,CotC monomeric
[12-kDa] and homodimeric [21-kDa] forms wereobserved starting 8 h
after the onset of sporulation [T8], whilethe other two cotC-dependent
polypeptides of 12.5 and 30 kDaappeared 2 h later [Fig.
4] . Appearance of CotC-specific polypeptides
starting from T8 was in perfect agreement with the previously
described cotC expression pattern [14,
31] . Identical resultswere obtained with a wild-type strain [not
shown] . While 15µg of total proteins was used to detect CotC from
purifiedspores and forespore fractions, 50 µg of total proteins
was analyzed in the case of mother cell samples . This amountof
total protein allowed visualization of CotB [15] and CotA
[see below] in the mother cell fraction of sporulating cells.
Therefore, absence of CotC-specific polypeptides in the mothercell
fraction together with the appearance of the 12.5- and30-kDa
polypeptides 2 h later than the 12- and 21-kDa formsof CotC [Fig.
4] suggests that [i] CotC does not accumulatein
the mother cell, probably as a consequence of its immediateassembly
on the forming spore, and [ii] the 12.5- and 30-kDapolypeptides are
most likely generated on the forming sporecoat by specific
posttranslational modifications of the previouslyassembled forms of
12 and 21 kDa.
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FIG . 4 . Western blot of proteins extracted at various times after the
onset of sporulation from the mother cell or forespore of sporulating
cells of a cotU null mutant strain . Fifty [mother cell extract]
or 15 µg [forespore extract] of total proteins was fractionated on 18%
polyacrylamide gel, and upon electrotransfer on nitrocellulose
membranes, proteins were reacted with CotC-specific rabbit antibodies
and then with peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibodies and visualized
by the Pierce method . Molecular mass markers are indicated . The
estimated sizes of CotC-dependent polypeptides are also reported.
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CotH stabilizes CotC in the mother cell compartment of sporulating
cells. As a consequence of our hypothesis that CotC assembles on the
forming spore immediately after its synthesis in the mother
cell compartment and that the 12.5- and 30-kDa polypeptidesform only
on the forespore, we expected to find only the 12-and 21-kDa CotC
polypeptides in the mother cells of mutantsthat fail to assemble
CotC . To test this prediction, we performeda Western blot analysis
of CotC polypeptides from sporulatingcells of cotU cotE and
cotU cotH null mutant strains that, asshown in Fig.
3, do not assemble CotC . Cells were collectedat
various times during sporulation and lysed by sonication,and
forespore and mother cell fractions were separated as described
above . The forming spores were then extracted by alkali treatment,
and the released proteins were compared with those present inthe
mother cell cytoplasm by using CotC-specific antibodies.In agreement
with our prediction, accumulation of only two CotC-specific
polypeptides, of 12 and 21 kDa, could be observed in the mothercell
fraction of a cotU cotE null mutant [Fig . 5A] . The
intensitiesof the signals observed for the 12- and 21-kDa
polypeptides,compared to those obtained for the same polypeptides
from wild-typespores, make it extremely unlikely that the absence of
the othertwo forms of CotC could be due to their low concentrations.
To our surprise, we repeatedly failed to detect any CotC-specific
polypeptide in the mother cell protein fraction of a cotH mutant
at all time points analyzed [Fig . 5B], as well as in the
foresporefraction [not shown] . The same mother cell extracts were
reactedwith CotA-specific antibodies [L . Martins and A . O .
Henriques,unpublished results]; this revealed the presence of
CotA-specificpolypeptides of the expected sizes [Fig .
5C], thus suggestingthat the phenomenon observed in the cotH
mutant is restrictedto CotC forms and is not due to aspecific
protein degradation.
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FIG . 5 . [A] Western blot of proteins extracted from mature spores of a
cotU null mutant strain and from the mother cell fraction of
sporulating cells of a cotE mutant strain, 8 [t8] and
10 h after the onset of sporulation . [B] Western blot of proteins
extracted 8, 9, 10, and 11 h after the onset of sporulation from the
mother cell of sporulating cells of a cotH null mutant strain .
[C] Western blot of proteins extracted 10 h after the onset of
sporulation from the mother cell of sporulating cells of a cotH
null mutant strain . Fifty [mother cell extract] or 15 µg [forespore
extract] of total proteins was fractionated on 18% polyacrylamide gel
and, upon electrotransfer onto nitrocellulose membranes, proteins were
reacted with CotC-specific [A and B] or CotA-specific [C] rabbit
antibodies and then with peroxidase-conjugated secondary antibodies and
visualized by the Pierce method . Molecular mass markers are indicated .
The estimated sizes of CotC-dependent polypeptides are also reported.
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In the present work we report evidence that the CotC componentof the
B . subtilis spore coat is assembled into at least fourforms,
all dependent on the expression of the cotH gene . Expression
of the CotC structural gene in E . coli produced two polypeptides,
most likely corresponding to a CotC monomer and a homodimer
resistant to the detergent treatment and the reducing conditions
used . Since it is unlikely that an E . coli enzyme forms specific
covalent bonds between CotC molecules and since CotC has the
potential to self-interact, as shown by our experiment withyeast
cells [data not shown], we believe that the CotC homodimeris most
probably formed by spontaneous, noncovalent assemblyof monomers .
Additional biochemical experiments, out of thescope of this study,
are needed to understand the nature ofthis interaction.
CotC assembly depends on cotE and cotH expression . Dependency
on cotE was expected, since it has been previously shown that
cotE null mutant spores do not assemble the outer coat [31].
Dependency on cotH expression was previously reported for the
most abundant 12-kDa CotC form [21] . Assembly of two
other coatcomponents, CotB and CotG, also depends on cotH
expression.Since assembly of CotB, in turn, depends on cotG
expression[24], hierarchical control
CotH-CotG-CotB was proposed [21].Here we show
[Fig . 3] that all four CotC polypeptides strictly
require cotE and cotH expression and do not depend on the
expressionof the cotA, cotB, or cotG gene and
that only the 30-kDa formhas a partial requirement for cotB
expression.
Western blotting performed at various times during sporulation
with the wild type and cotH and cotE mutants allowed three
conclusions.[i] The 12- and 21-kDa CotC forms are assembled on the
formingspore immediately after their synthesis in the mother cell
compartment.This is based on the observation that the 12- and 21-kDa
formsaccumulate in the mother cell of a cotE mutant [unable
to assemblethem] but not in the mother cell of wild-type spores .
[ii] The12.5- and 30-kDa forms of CotC are generated on the forming
spore coat, since they are never found in the mother cell of
wild-type or cotE mutant cells . Their formation is most likely
due to specific posttranslational modifications of the previously
assembled forms of 12 and 21 kDa . The nature of such modifications
has not been clarified . However, since CotC contains several
tyrosines [30.3% of total residues] and since dityrosine bond
formation may be involved in coat assembly [reference 13 and
references therein], it is possible that this type of cross-link
is, at least in part, responsible for the formation of the 12.5-
and 30-kDa forms of CotC . [iii] CotH or a cotH-controlled factor
allows assembly of the 12- and 21-kDa forms of CotC on the spore
surface . This is based on the observation that the 12- and 21-kDa
forms do not accumulate in the mother cell of a cotH mutant.
Since CotC is present in the cytoplasm of a cotE mutant [Fig.
5A] as well as in E . coli [Fig . 2]
but is not found in the cytoplasmof a cotH mutant [Fig.
5B], its absence cannot be due to thelow stability
of the protein . We believe it more likely thata specific factor
[possibly a protease] degrades CotC in theabsence of CotH [or a
cotH-dependent protein] . According tothis model, in a wild-type
strain CotH [or a cotH-dependentprotein] would prevent CotC
degradation either by interactingin a chaperone-like manner with
CotC or its specific proteasein the mother cell or by immediately
recruiting CotC into thecoat of the forming spore . Either way, CotC
is not present inthe mother cell or on the forespore of a cotH
mutant . Our datado not allow us to establish whether CotC is
degraded or isonly cleaved near its C-terminal end, making it
undetectablefor our antibodies . However, such hypothetical cleavage
doesnot occur in a wild-type strain and would in any case lead to
a nonphysiological situation [i.e., assembly of a shorter form
of CotC].
This work was supported by the European Union grant no . QLK5-CT-2001-01729
to E.R . and A.O.H . and by MIUR [Cofin 2002; FIRB 2002] grants
to E.R.
* Corresponding author . Mailing address: Dipartimento di
Fisiologia Generale ed Ambientale, Università Federico II, via Mezzocannone 16,
80134 Naples, Italy . Phone: 39-081-2534636 . Fax: 39-081-5514437 . E-mail: ericca@unina.it .
Present address: Gulbenkian Institute of Science, Oeiras, Portugal.
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