Khm. Van Wely et al., The carboxyl terminus of the Bacillus subtilis SecA is dispensable for protein secretion and viability, MICROBIO-UK, 146, 2000, pp. 2573-2581
The Escherichia coli secretion-dedicated chaperone SecB targets a subset of
proteins to the translocase by interacting with the carboxyl (C-) terminus
of SecA. This region of SecA is highly conserved in Eubacteria, but despit
e its presence in the Bacillus subtilis SecA, the B. subtilis genome does n
ot appear to contain a gene for a clear homologue of SecB. Deletion of the
C-terminus of the B. subtilis SecA yields cells that have normal viability,
but that exhibit a response reminiscent of oxidative stress and the loss o
f a number of secretory proteins from the culture supernatant. Semi-quantit
ative RT-PCR demonstrates that these proteins are expressed at lower levels
. The C-terminus of SecA fused to glutathione S-transferase (GST) specifica
lly binds a cytosolic protein, termed MrgA. This protein has been reported
to function in relation to oxidative stress, but deletion of the mrgA gene
does not result in a secretion defect nor does it cause an oxidative stress
response. It is concluded that the C-terminus of the B. subtilis SecA is n
ot essential for secretion and viability.