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Projekt
Funktion der ATP-abhängigen Metallo Protease FtsH bei der Sporulation von Bacillus subtilis
Antragsteller
Professor Dr. Wolfgang Schumann
Fachliche Zuordnung
Stoffwechselphysiologie, Biochemie und Genetik der Mikroorganismen
Förderung
Förderung von 2002 bis 2010
Projektkennung
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 5361979
Under conditions of nutrient depletion at high cell density, Bacillus subtilis cells initiate the process of spore formation as the response of last resort. The sporulation programme is genetically regulated in a rather complex way to allow the integration of external and internal input signals. Work carried out over the last five years by three different laboratories has revealed that the ATP- and Zn2+-dependent FtsH protease is involved in three different checkpoints along the sporulation pathway, but in not a single case, its precise role has been defined. Therefore, this research project is aimed at the elucidation of (i) the function of FtsH during the synthesis of active Spo0A~P, (ii) the role of FtsH in the activation of SpoIVFB protease, and (iii) identification of the biological role of SpoVM, a 26-amino-acid peptide assumed to inhibit the protease domain of FtsH. In the first case, we assume that FtsH has to degrade a negative regulator to signal the cell the presence of sufficient amounts of the protease. In the second case, the complex activation pathway involving six identified proteins will be dissected to allow the definition of the role of FtsH. And in the last case, we will try to answer the question why SpoVM inhibits the proteolytic activity of FtsH.
DFG-Verfahren
Schwerpunktprogramme
