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Related Concept Videos

Global Regulatory Systems01:28

Global Regulatory Systems

Global regulatory systems in bacteria enable rapid and coordinated responses to environmental changes by integrating sensory inputs with gene expression, ensuring efficient adaptation to fluctuating conditions. Key global regulatory mechanisms include regulons, two-component systems, sigma factors, and secondary messengers.Regulons and Global RegulatorsA regulon is a collection of genes and operons controlled by a common global regulator. These regulators enable bacteria to prioritize resource...
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Gene Regulation During Sporulation

Sporulation is a complex developmental process that allows certain Gram-positive bacteria, such as Bacillus subtilis and Clostridium species, to survive extreme environmental conditions. This process is tightly regulated by a series of signaling cascades and transcriptional controls, ensuring the formation of a highly resistant endospore.Sporulation is triggered by unfavorable conditions, such as nutrient depletion, and is governed by a phosphorelay system. One of the sensor kinases, such as...
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Prokaryotic Transcriptional Activators and Repressors

The organization of prokaryotic genes in their genome is notably different from that of eukaryotes. Prokaryotic genes are organized, such that the genes for proteins involved in the same biochemical process or function are located together in groups. This group of genes, along with their regulatory elements, are collectively known as an operon. The functional genes in an operon are transcribed together to give a single strand of mRNA known as polycistronic mRNA.
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Operons02:09

Operons

Prokaryotes can control gene expression through operons—DNA sequences consisting of regulatory elements and clustered, functionally related protein-coding genes. Operons use a single promoter sequence to initiate transcription of a gene cluster (i.e., a group of structural genes) into a single mRNA molecule. The terminator sequence ends transcription. An operator sequence, located between the promoter and structural genes, prohibits the operon’s transcriptional activity if bound by a repressor...
Factors Influencing Microbial Growth: Osmolarity01:28

Factors Influencing Microbial Growth: Osmolarity

Osmolarity is the measure of solute concentration in a solution. It plays a critical role in determining water availability for organisms. Water moves across semipermeable membranes through osmosis, flowing from regions of lower solute concentration (more dilute) to regions of higher solute concentration (more concentrated).In high-solute environments, microbial cells lose water, leading to dehydration and inhibited growth. The extent to which water is available to microbes in such environments...
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Single-cell Analysis of Bacillus subtilis Biofilms Using Fluorescence Microscopy and Flow Cytometry
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Published on: February 15, 2012

Osmotic pressure can regulate matrix gene expression in Bacillus subtilis.

Shmuel M Rubinstein1, Ilana Kolodkin-Gal, Anna McLoon

  • 1Departments of Physics and Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.

Molecular Microbiology
|August 14, 2012
PubMed
Summary

Biofilm matrix in Bacillus subtilis can signal cells to reduce matrix production. Increased osmotic pressure, triggered by the matrix, inhibits matrix gene expression via the KinD-Spo0A pathway.

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Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Bacterial community dynamics
  • Extracellular matrix synthesis

Background:

  • Bacteria form biofilms, complex communities encased in an extracellular matrix.
  • Biofilm robustness correlates with matrix amount, but regulatory signals are unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • Investigate how biofilm matrix regulates its own synthesis in Bacillus subtilis.
  • Identify the specific signaling pathways involved in matrix production control.

Main Methods:

  • Examined the effect of exopolysaccharide matrix on gene expression.
  • Assessed the impact of osmotic pressure changes on matrix synthesis.
  • Investigated the role of histidine kinase KinD and master regulator Spo0A.

Main Results:

  • The exopolysaccharide matrix increases osmotic pressure, inhibiting matrix gene expression.
  • Non-specific osmotic pressure increases also inhibit matrix gene expression.
  • This inhibition is mediated by the activation of KinD, leading to Spo0A phosphorylation and repression of matrix genes.

Conclusions:

  • The biofilm matrix acts as a cue to regulate its own synthesis through osmotic pressure.
  • This mechanism involves the KinD-Spo0A signaling pathway.
  • Sensing physical cues like osmotic pressure may coordinate behavior in multispecies communities.