SpoVH and spoVJ--new sporulation loci in Bacillus subtilis 168

Three sporulation mutants have been isolated which produce spores with an atypical resistance phenotype, i.e. they are sensitive to organic solvents and heat but resistant to lysozyme. All three mutants produced serine protease, alkaline phosphatase and glucose dehydrogenase which are biochemical marker events for stages I, II and III. Two of the three mutants produced dipicolinic acid, a late marker, but the third was defective in its production. Heat-resistance was not restored to any of the mutants by the provision of exogenous dipicolinate. Gel electrophoresis showed that the mutant spores had similar patterns of spore coat proteins to the wild-type and electron microscopy revealed no significant structural differences. The three mutations responsible for the phenotypes of the mutant spores lie in the phe-argA region of the Bacillus subtilis chromosome. Recombination index values indicate that the mutations are in three separate genes. They define at least two new sporulation loci, designated spoVH and spoVJ.