The complete DNA sequence and regulatory regions of the Bacillus licheniformis spoOH gene

We have determined the sequence of a 1228 base-pair cloned DNA fragment from Bacillus licheniformis capable of specifically complementing mutations in the spoOH gene, which is required for the early stage of sporulation in B. subtilis. The sequence has only one long open reading frame consisting of 168 codons. In vivo and in vitro transcription mapping studies indicate the size of complementary RNA to be around 1 kb with the 5' initiation site at base 79 and the 3' termination site in the area of base 1138. This indicates the presence of a 5' untranslated RNA and a fairly long 3' extension. The promoter sequence of this gene is 5'TATAAT3' at -10, and 5'TTGACG3' at -35, a typical E. coli-like promoter sequence, and is transcribed in vitro specifically only by RNA polymerase containing delta 55 and not delta 37-containing holoenzyme.