Analysis of the function of a putative 2,3-diphosphoglyceric acid-dependent phosphoglycerate mutase from Bacillus subtilis

A Bacillus subtilis gene termed yhfR encodes the only B. subtilis protein w ith significant sequence similarity to 2,3-diphosphoglycerate-dependent pho sphoglycerate mutases (dPGM). This gene is expressed at a low level during growth and sporulation, but deletion of yhfR had no effect on growth, sporu lation, or spore germination and outgrowth. YhfR was expressed in and parti ally purified from Escherichia coli but had little if any PGM activity and gave no detectable PGM activity in B. subtilis. These data indicate that B. subtilis does not require YhfR and most likely does not require a dPGM.