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University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Studies on CheA(B): Phosphorylation, methylation and behavioral control during chemotactic signal transduction in Bacillus subtilis

Abstract

dc:description

Chemotaxis in Bacillus subtilis is a prototypical behavior and signal transduction process, and CheA$\sb{\rm B}$ plays an important role in it. The $cheA\sb{\rm B}$ gene was isolated, sequenced, expressed and mutated. It encoded a large negatively charged protein with a molecular weight of approximately 74,000. The predicted protein sequence has 33% homology with the Escherichia coli and CheA$\sb{\rm E}$. Such proteins have been found to autophosphorylate and are members of the same histidine kinase signal modulating family. CheA$\sb{\rm B}$ has several conserved regions (including the histidine that is phosphorylated in CheA$\sb{\rm E}$) that coincide with the other autophosphorylated signal transducers. In vitro experiments on partially purified CheA$\sb{\rm B}$ indicates that it also appears to autophosphorylate. CheA$\sb{\rm E}$ mediates the effect of binding of attractants or repellents at the MCPs (receptors) by altering its rate of autophosphorylation and subsequent phosphorylation of CheY, to bring about behavioral change, and CheB, to bring about adaptation. CheA$\sb{\rm B}$ appears to play a similar central controlling role, for a null mutant and all point mutants tested were defective in attractant-induced methanol production and showed no behavioral response upon addition of chemoeffectors. Furthermore, methylation of the MCPs, in which methyl groups are transferred away to an acceptor and replaced by methyl groups from S-adenosylmethionine, is regulated by CheB$\sb{\rm B}$, whose activity is controlled by CheA$\sb{\rm B}$.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Ph.D.
Level thesis:degree_level
Dissertation
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Biology, Molecular
Grantor
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Year dc:date
2011

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Fuhrer, Douglas Keith
Contributors dc:contributor
  • Ordal, George W.

Subjects

dc:subject × 3

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • Copyright 1992 Fuhrer, Douglas Keith
Language dc:language
eng

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Identifier
AAI9305529
(UMI)AAI9305529
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/23616

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
Base URL
www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Fuhrer, Douglas Keith. Studies on CheA(B): Phosphorylation, methylation and behavioral control during chemotactic signal transduction in Bacillus subtilis. Dissertation thesis, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2011. http://hdl.handle.net/2142/23616