The sigma B-dependent promoter of the Bacillus subtilis sigB operon is induced by heat shock.

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sigma B, a secondary sigma factor of Bacillus subtilis, was found to increase 5- to 10-fold when cultures were shifted from 37 to 48 degrees C. Western blot (immunoblot) analyses, in which monoclonal antibodies specific for the sigB operon products RsbV, RsbW, and sigma B were used to probe extracts from wild-type and mutant B. subtilis strains, revealed that all three proteins increased coordinately after heat shock and that this increase was dependent on sigma B but not RsbV, a positive regulator normally essential for sigma B-dependent sigB expression. Nuclease protection experiments of RNA synthesized after heat shock supported the notion that the shift to 48 degrees C enhanced transcription from the sigB operon's sigma B-dependent promoter. The level of mRNA initiating at the sigma B-dependent ctc promoter was also seen to increase approximately 5- to 10-fold after heat shock. Pulse-labeling of the proteins synthesized after a shift to 48 degrees C demonstrated that sigB wild-type and mutant strains produced the major heat-inducible proteins in similar amounts; however, at least seven additional proteins were present after the temperature shift in the wild-type strain but absent in the sigB null mutant. Thus, although sigma B is not required for the expression of essential heat shock genes, it is activated by heat shock to elevate its own synthesis and possibly the synthesis of several other heat-inducible proteins.

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