Effect of precisely identified mutations in the spoIIAC gene of Bacillus subtilis on the toxicity of the sigma-like gene product to Escherichia coli.

Yudkin (1986) has shown that the spoIIAC gene of Bacillus subtilis cannot be cloned in Escherichia coli in such an orientation that it is expressed. This toxicity of the gene product has been attributed to its close homology with the sigma subunit of the E. coli RNA polymerase. The effect of six individual mutations in spoIIAC has now been studied. All six mutant genes could be cloned in E. coli in an orientation that does not allow expression. When in the orientation that permits expression, one mutant gene could not be cloned, and a second substantially hampered growth; both mutations lie in the region that is believed to encode the DNA-binding domain of the protein. By contrast, two missense mutations in the region of the gene thought to encode the domain that binds to the core RNA polymerase rendered the protein harmless in E. coli, as did two nonsense mutations.