The metNPQ operon of Bacillus subtilis encodes an ABC permease transporting methionine sulfoxide, D-and L-methionine.

Marie-Françoise Hullo (1) , Sandrine S. Auger (1) , Elie Dassa (2) , Antoine Danchin (1) , Isabelle Martin-Verstraete (1)

1 Génétique des Génomes Bactériens
2 Programmation Moléculaire et Toxicologie Génétique

The Bacillus subtilis yusCBA operon, which encodes an ABC-type transporter, contains an S-box motif in its promoter region. We showed that the expression of these genes is repressed via the S-box system when methionine is available. The YusCB proteins are involved in the transport of both d- and l-methionine but also methionine sulfoxide. A yusCB mutant is unable to grow in the presence of 5 microM l-methionine or 100 microM methionine sulfoxide, while it grows similarly to the wild type with 100 microM l-methionine and 1 mM methionine sulfoxide. Other uptake systems are therefore present for these two compounds. In contrast, the Yus ABC transporter corresponds to the sole d-methionine uptake system. We propose to rename yusC, yusB and yusA as metN, metP and metQ, respectively.

Domaines: Sciences du Vivant [q-bio]

Marie-Françoise Hullo, Sandrine S. Auger, Elie Dassa, Antoine Danchin, Isabelle Martin-Verstraete. The metNPQ operon of Bacillus subtilis encodes an ABC permease transporting methionine sulfoxide, D-and L-methionine.. Research in Microbiology, 2004, 155 (2), pp.80-86. ⟨10.1016/j.resmic.2003.11.008⟩. ⟨hal-00020363⟩