FtsA mutants of Bacillus subtilis impaired in sporulation

Spore formation in Bacillus subtilis involves a switch in the site of cell division from the midcell to a polar position. Both medial division and polar division are mediated in part by the actin-like, cytokinetic protein FtsA. We report the isolation of an FtsA mutant (FtsA(D265G)) that is defective in sporulation but is apparently unimpaired in vegetative growth. Sporulating cells of the mutant reach the stage of asymmetric division but are partially blocked in the subsequent morphological process of engulfment. As judged by fluorescence microscopy and electron microscopy, the FtsA(D265G) mutant produces normal-looking medial septa but immature (abnormally thin) polar septa. The mutant was unimpaired in transcription under the control of Spo0A, the master regulator for entry into sporulation, but was defective in transcription under the control of sigmaF, a regulatory protein whose activation is known to depend on polar division. An amino acid substitution at a residue (Y264) adjacent to D265 also caused a defect in sporulation. D265 and Y264 are conserved among endospore-forming bacteria, raising the possibility that these residues are involved in a sporulation-specific protein interaction that facilitates maturation of the sporulation septum and the activation of sigmaF.