Bifunctional protein required for asymmetric cell division and cell-specific transcription in Bacillus subtilis

During sporulation in Bacillus subtilis an asymmetric cell division gives rise to unequal progeny called the prepore and the mother cell. Gene expression in the prespore is initiated by cell-specific activation of the transcription factor sigma(F). Three proteins participate in the regulation of sigma(F) activity. The first, SpoIIAB, is an inhibitor of sigma(F), that is, an anti-sigma factor. SpoIIAB is also a protein kinase that catalyzes phosphorylation of the second regulatory protein SpoIIAA (the anti-anti-sigma factor), and thus inactivates it. A third protein, SpoIIE, was shown recently to be able to dephosphorylate SpoIIAA-P in vitro. Here we show that SpoIIE is a bifunctional protein with two critical roles in the establishment of cell fate. First, we confirm by the use of in vivo experiments that it regulates the release of sigma(F) activity by dephosphorylating SpoIIAA-P. Second, we show that SpoIIE is needed for normal formation of the asymmetric septum that separates the prespore from the mother cell. Combination of these two functions in a single polypeptide may serve to couple the release of the cell-specific transcription factors with the formation of the differentiating cells.