Induction of saccharolytic enzymes by sucrose in Bacillus subtilis: evidence for two partially interchangeable regulatory pathways

Sucrose induces two saccharolytic enzymes in Bacillus subtilis, an intracellular sucrase and an extracellular levansucrase, encoded by sacA and sacB, respectively. It was previously shown that the sacY gene encodes a positive regulator involved in a sucrose-dependent antitermination upstream from the sacB coding sequence. We show here that the sacY product is not absolutely required for sacB induction: a weak but significant induction can be observed in strains harboring a sacY deletion. The sacY-independent induction was altered by mutations located in the sacP and sacT loci but was observed in both sacU+ and sacU32 genetic backgrounds. These results suggest that B. subtilis has two alternative systems allowing sacB induction by sucrose. Both systems also seem to be involved in sacA induction.