Project name: Bacillus cereus ATCC 14579

Description: A common bacterial strategy for monitoring environmental challenges is to use two-component systems, which consist of a sensor histidine kinase (HK) and a response regulator (RR). In the food-borne pathogen Bacillus cereus, the alternative sigma factor σB is activated by the RR RsbY. Here we present strong indications that the PP2C-type phosphatase RsbY receives its input from the multi-sensor hybrid kinase BC1008 (renamed RsbK). Genome analyses revealed that, across bacilli, rsbY and rsbK are located in a conserved gene cluster. A B. cereus rsbK deletion strain was shown to be incapable of inducing σB upon stress conditions and was impaired in its heat adaptive response. Comparison of the wild-type and rsbK mutant transcriptomes upon heat shock revealed that RsbK was primarily involved in the activation of the σB-mediated stress response. Truncation of the RsbK RR receiver domain demonstrated the importance ofthis domain for σB induction upon stress. The domain architecture of RsbK suggests that in the B. cereus group and in other bacilli, environmental and intracellular stress signalling routes are combined into one single protein. This strategy is markedly different from the σB activation pathway in other low-GC Grampositives.Overall design: Two different comparisons were performed (both in duplo and Cy5-Cy3 dye-swapped):(1) B. cereus WT 30°C versus B. cereus WT 42°C (10 min heat shock)(2) B. cereus WT 42°C versus B. cereus FM1404 42°CData from comparisons (2) were subsequently compared with transcriptome data obtained previously by Van Schaik et al., 2007

Data type: Transcriptome or Gene expression

Sample scope: Multiisolate

Relevance: Environmental

Release date: 2009-12-17

Last updated: 2009-01-27