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Updated: May 17, 2026

Monitoring Intraspecies Competition in a Bacterial Cell Population by Cocultivation of Fluorescently Labelled Strains
Published on: January 18, 2014
Regulation of the anaerobic metabolism in Bacillus subtilis
Elisabeth Härtig1, Dieter Jahn
1Institute of Microbiology, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany. e.haertig@tu-bs.de
Abstract:
The Gram-positive soil bacterium Bacillus subtilis encounters changing environmental conditions in its habitat. The access to oxygen determines the mode of energy generation. A complex regulatory network is employed to switch from oxygen respiration to nitrate respiration and various fermentative processes. During adaptation, oxygen depletion is sensed by the [4Fe-4S](2+) cluster containing Fnr and the two-component regulatory system ResDE consisting of the membrane-bound histidine kinase ResE and the cytoplasmic ResD regulator. Nitric oxide is the signal recognized by NsrR. Acetate formation and decreasing pH are measured via AlsR. Finally, Rex is responding to changes in the cellular NAD(+)/NADH ration. The fine-tuned interplay of these regulators at approximately 400 target gene promoters ensures efficient adaptation of the B. subtilis physiology.
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