Back to Search
Start Over
Dormant spores sense amino acids through the B subunits of their germination receptors.
- Source :
-
Nature communications [Nat Commun] 2021 Nov 25; Vol. 12 (1), pp. 6842. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Nov 25. - Publication Year :
- 2021
-
Abstract
- Bacteria from the orders Bacillales and Clostridiales differentiate into stress-resistant spores that can remain dormant for years, yet rapidly germinate upon nutrient sensing. How spores monitor nutrients is poorly understood but in most cases requires putative membrane receptors. The prototypical receptor from Bacillus subtilis consists of three proteins (GerAA, GerAB, GerAC) required for germination in response to L-alanine. GerAB belongs to the Amino Acid-Polyamine-Organocation superfamily of transporters. Using evolutionary co-variation analysis, we provide evidence that GerAB adopts a structure similar to an L-alanine transporter from this superfamily. We show that mutations in gerAB predicted to disrupt the ligand-binding pocket impair germination, while mutations predicted to function in L-alanine recognition enable spores to respond to L-leucine or L-serine. Finally, substitutions of bulkier residues at these positions cause constitutive germination. These data suggest that GerAB is the L-alanine sensor and that B subunits in this broadly conserved family function in nutrient detection.<br /> (© 2021. The Author(s).)
- Subjects :
- Alanine chemistry
Alanine metabolism
Amino Acids chemistry
Bacillus subtilis physiology
Bacterial Proteins chemistry
Bacterial Proteins genetics
Binding Sites
Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial
Ligands
Membrane Proteins chemistry
Membrane Proteins genetics
Models, Molecular
Mutation
Amino Acids metabolism
Bacterial Proteins metabolism
Membrane Proteins metabolism
Spores, Bacterial physiology
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 2041-1723
- Volume :
- 12
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Nature communications
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 34824238
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-27235-2