Abstract
Glucose-limited continuous cultures were used to analyze σB activity at decreasing growth rates. Expression of the σB-dependent genes gsiB and ctc started to increase at a growth rate of 0.2 h–1, and both genes were induced approximately fivefold at a growth rate of 0.1 h–1 as compared to expression at the maximal growth rate. However, maximal σB activity was only reached when the growth stopped as a result of the exhaustion of the carbon and energy source glucose. During glucose-limited growth, increased expression of the general stress regulon at growth rates below 0.2 h–1 did not provide wild-type cells with a growth advantage over sigB mutants. Instead, expression of the stress regulon seems to constitute a significant burden during glucose-limited growth, resulting in a selective growth advantage of the sigB mutant as compared to the wild-type at a growth rate of 0.08 h–1.
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Received: 7 January 1999 / Accepted: 22 March 1999
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Schweder, T., Kolyschkow, A., Völker, U. et al. Analysis of the expression and function of the σB-dependent general stress regulon of Bacillus subtilis during slow growth. Arch Microbiol 171, 439–443 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/s002030050731
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s002030050731