Specialized osmotic stress response systems involve multiple SigB-like sigma factors in Streptomyces coelicolor

Whereas in Bacillus subtilis, a general stress response stimulon under the control of a single sigma factor (SigB) is induced by different physiological and environmental stresses (heat, salt or ethanol shock), in Streptomyces coelicolor, these environmental stresses induce independent sets of proteins, and its genome encodes nine SigB paralogues. To investigate possible functions of multiple sigB-like genes in S. coelicolor, Pctc, a promoter routinely used to assay SigB activity in vivo, was analysed as a heterologous reporter. The fact that Pctc was activated by osmotic shock, but not by heat or ethanol, confirmed that stress response system(s) could operate independently in S. coelicolor. Pctc was also induced transiently during growth of liquid cultures, presumably by nutritional signals. We purified an RNA polymerase holoenzyme from crude extracts that catalysed specific transcription of Pctc in vitro. Its sigma subunit was identified as a product of the sigH gene, which is co-transcribed downstream of a putative antisigma factor gene (prsH). Although the sigH function was not needed for normal colony morphology, prsH was conditionally required for both aerial hyphae formation and regulation of antibiotic biosynthesis. Levels of two different sigH-encoded proteins were growth phase dependent but not significantly changed by osmotic stress, implying the important roles of post-translational regulatory elements such as PrsH. In addition, synthesis of three other SigH-like proteins was induced by osmotic stress, but not by ethanol or heat. Two of them were genetically assigned to sigH homologous loci sigI and sigJ and shown to be independently regulated. This family of SigH-like proteins displayed different osmotic response kinetics. Thus, in contrast to many other bacteria, S. coelicolor uses an osmotic sensory system that can co-ordinate the activity of multiple paralogues to control the relative activity of promoters within the same stress stimulon. Such specialized stress response systems may reflect adaptive functions needed for colonial differentiation.