Coupling of flagellin gene transcription to flagellar assembly in Bacillus subtilis

The regulation of flagellin gene expression in Bacillus subtilis was examined in vivo by means of a lacZ translational fusion to the flagellin structural gene (hag). We have tested the effects of two known mutations (flaA4 and flaA15) in the major flagellar operon and of three deletions. One deletion was in frame in the fliI cistron, one was out of frame in the fliK cistron, and the last spanned about 21 kb of the flaA operon. In all instances, the expression of the flagellin gene was defective. Flagellin gene expression was restored in the strain with the 21-kb deletion by overexpression of the sigD gene under control of the isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG)-inducible spac promoter. These results indicate that transcription of the flagellin gene is dependent on the formation of the flagellar basal body but that such a requirement can be bypassed by overexpression of sigD. Lack of expression of hag was observed in the presence of flaD1, flaD2, and delta sin mutations as well.