Analysis of the dual regulatory mechanisms controlling expression of the vegetative catalase gene of Bacillus subtilis.

The expression of a vegetative catalase gene, katA (formerly the kat-19 gene), is necessary to protect Bacillus subtilis from H2O2, presumably by removing the oxidant from the environment. Genetic analysis of katA revealed that this gene is under two distinct forms of regulation, temporal and H2O2 inducible. The results reported here demonstrate that (i) the H2O2-inducible regulation of katA gene is not a component of the SOS regulon, (ii) the regulatory genes spo0A and abrB are involved in the temporal regulation but not the H2O2-specific induction of katA gene expression, and (iii) transcription initiation for the katA gene occurs at the same site under both forms of regulation.