ScoC regulates peptide transport and sporulation initiation in Bacillus subtilis

Oligopeptides are transported into Bacillus subtilis by two ABC transport systems, App and Opp. Transcription of the operon encoding the Opp system was found to occur during exponential growth, whereas the app operon was induced at the onset of stationary phase. Transcription of both operons was completely curtailed by overproduction of the ScoC regulator from a multicopy plasmid and was enhanced in strains with the scoC locus deleted. ScoC, a member of the MarR family of transcription regulators, is known from previous studies to be a negative regulator of sporulation and of protease production that acts by binding directly to the promoters of the genes it regulates. Since peptide transport is essential for inactivation of the negative regulation of sporulation by Rap phosphatases, the control of ScoC transcription repression activity plays a crucial role in the initiation of sporulation.