Cloning and characterization of genes induced by hydrogen peroxide in Bacillus subtilis

• Published in: Journal of general microbiology Vol. 138; no. 10; pp. 2061 - 2068
• Main Authors: Hartford, Orla M, Dowds, Barbara C. A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Soc General Microbiol 01.10.1992
• Subjects: Bacillus subtilis; Bacillus subtilis - genetics; Bacteriophages - growth & development; Chromosome Mapping; Cloning, Molecular; DNA, Recombinant; Enzyme Induction - drug effects; Ethanol - pharmacology; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial - drug effects; Genes, Bacterial - genetics; Hydrogen Peroxide - pharmacology; Lac Operon; Mitomycin - pharmacology; Nucleic Acid Hybridization; Promoter Regions, Genetic - genetics
• ISSN: 0022-1287
• DOI: 10.1099/00221287-138-10-2061

Department of Biology, St Patrick's College, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland. * Author for correspondence. Tel. 1 6285222; fax 1 6289432. ABSTRACT Transcriptional fusions of Bacillus subtilis DNA to the lacZ gene were screened for induction, initially by ethanol and then by hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ). Two fusions were identified which were induced late following treatment with sublethal concentrations of H 2 O 2 (100 µM). The oxy-1 promoter was induced 4–5-fold and mapped to 11° while the oxy-2 promoter was induced 20-fold and mapped close to the right of the defective prophage PBSX, at about 120°. The oxy-2 fusion was induced by mitomycin C as well as H 2 O 2 , which correlated with the induction of PBSX by these agents. This was probably not a transcriptional induction, but rather a consequence of the induction of PBSX replication extending into adjacent regions of the chromosome.