A dual mode of regulation of flgM by ScoC in Bacillus subtilis

Abstract

In Bacillus subtilis, the transition state regulator ScoC indirectly, negatively regulates the anti-sigma(D) factor FlgM in a SinR-dependent pathway leading to an increased availability of sigma(D). In addition to the SinR-dependent pathway, ScoC negatively regulates FlgM via directly repressing flgM transcription by binding to two sites in the promoter region of the flgM operon. Our studies also show that the regulation of FlgM by SinR is not at the transcriptional or translational levels. Thus, ScoC shows a dual mode of downregulation of FlgM, via both SinR-dependent and -independent pathways, which eventually results in the increased sigma(D) activity.