The functions of yhcZ gene during Bacillus thuringiensis growth

• Published in: Yíchuán Vol. 40; no. 5; p. 415
• Main Authors: Jia, Lin da, Gao, Tan Tan, Peng, Qi, Lv, Jing, Zhang, Jie, Chen, Min, Song, Fu Ping
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Chinese
• Published: China 20.05.2018
• Subjects: Bacillus thuringiensis - genetics; Bacillus thuringiensis - growth & development; Bacillus thuringiensis - metabolism; Bacterial Proteins - genetics; Bacterial Proteins - metabolism; Culture Media - metabolism; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; Glucose - metabolism
• ISSN: 0253-9772
• DOI: 10.16288/j.yczz.18-061

yhcZ and yhcY genes constitute a two-component system in Bacillus subtilis and B. cereus that regulates bacterial growth. However, the exact biological function of yhcZ gene in B. thuringiensis has not been fully elucidated. In this study, we proved that HD73_5824 is an yhcZ gene in B. thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki HD73 strain by combining gene functional annotation, analysis of upstream and downstream genes arrangement, and amino acid sequence alignment. This yhcZ gene may co-regulate bacterial growth with HD73_5825 gene (yhcY gene) by constituting a two-component system. Homologous recombination technology was employed to knock out yhcZ gene of HD73, resulting in a mutant strain HD (ΔyhcZ). The HD (ΔyhcZ) strain grew slower than wild-type strain HD73 in both LB and SSM medium. Re-introduction of yhcZ gene in HD (ΔyhcZ) strain can partially restore the growth, indicating that the deletion of yhcZ gene impacts the cell growth of HD73 strain. HD (ΔyhcZ) strain grew faster than HD73 strain in M9 medium with 0.4