WalR

• Description: two-component response regulator (OmpR family), controls cell wall metabolism
  
  

Gene name	walR
Synonyms	yycF
Essential	yes PubMed
Product	two-component response regulator (OmpR family)
Function	control of cell wall metabolism
Gene expression levels in SubtiExpress: walR
Interactions involving this protein in SubtInteract: WalR
MW, pI	27 kDa, 4.876
Gene length, protein length	705 bp, 235 aa
Immediate neighbours	walK, trnY-Phe
Sequences	Protein DNA DNA_with_flanks
Genetic context This image was kindly provided by SubtiList
Expression at a glance   PubMed

Categories containing this gene/protein

cell wall/ other, transcription factors and their control, essential genes, phosphoproteins

The gene

Basic information

• Locus tag: BSU40410

Phenotypes of a mutant

• essential PubMed
• a constitutively active form of WalR (WalR-R204C) results in constitutive expression of the WalR regulon, and in combination with a sepF mutation to the formation of cell wall-less L-forms PubMed

Database entries

• BsubCyc: BSU40410

• DBTBS entry: [1]

• SubtiList entry: [2]

The protein

Basic information/ Evolution

• Catalyzed reaction/ biological activity:

• Protein family: OmpR family of two-component response regulators

• Paralogous protein(s):

Extended information on the protein

• Kinetic information:

• Domains:

• Modification: phosphorylated by WalK on an Asp residue

• Cofactors:

• Effectors of protein activity: phosphorylation likely affects DNA-binding activity

• Interactions:
  • WalK-WalR

• Localization: cytoplasm (according to Swiss-Prot)

Database entries

• BsubCyc: BSU40410

• Structure: 2D1V (DNA binding domain), 2ZWM (receiver domain)

• UniProt: P37478

• KEGG entry: [3]

• E.C. number:

Expression and regulation

• Operon: walR-walK-yycH-yycI-walJ-htrC PubMed

• Expression browser: walR PubMed

• Sigma factor:

• Regulation:
  • expressed during vegetative growth, repressed during stationary phase PubMed
  • induced at high temperature PubMed

• Regulatory mechanism:

• Additional information:
  • number of protein molecules per cell (minimal medium with glucose and ammonium): 176 PubMed

Biological materials

• Mutant:

• Expression vector:
  • pGP2633, constitutive expression in B. subtilis (based on pBQ200), available in Jörg Stülke's lab
  • pGP2635, expression of His-WalR in E. coli (based on pWH844), available in Jörg Stülke's lab

• lacZ fusion:

• GFP fusion:

• two-hybrid system:

• Antibody:

Labs working on this gene/protein

• Kevin Devine, Dublin

References

Reviews

Kevin M Devine
Bacterial L-forms on tap: an improved methodology to generate Bacillus subtilis L-forms heralds a new era of research.
Mol Microbiol: 2012, 83(1);10-3
[PubMed:22126136] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

Sarah Dubrac, Paola Bisicchia, Kevin M Devine, Tarek Msadek
A matter of life and death: cell wall homeostasis and the WalKR (YycGF) essential signal transduction pathway.
Mol Microbiol: 2008, 70(6);1307-22
[PubMed:19019149] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

Sarah Dubrac, Tarek Msadek
Tearing down the wall: peptidoglycan metabolism and the WalK/WalR (YycG/YycF) essential two-component system.
Adv Exp Med Biol: 2008, 631;214-28
[PubMed:18792692] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (P p)

Malcolm E Winkler, James A Hoch
Essentiality, bypass, and targeting of the YycFG (VicRK) two-component regulatory system in gram-positive bacteria.
J Bacteriol: 2008, 190(8);2645-8
[PubMed:18245295] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

C Fabret, V A Feher, J A Hoch
Two-component signal transduction in Bacillus subtilis: how one organism sees its world.
J Bacteriol: 1999, 181(7);1975-83
[PubMed:10094672] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (P p)

The WalR regulon

Letal I Salzberg, Leagh Powell, Karsten Hokamp, Eric Botella, David Noone, Kevin M Devine
The WalRK (YycFG) and σ(I) RsgI regulators cooperate to control CwlO and LytE expression in exponentially growing and stressed Bacillus subtilis cells.
Mol Microbiol: 2013, 87(1);180-95
[PubMed:23199363] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

Paola Bisicchia, David Noone, Efthimia Lioliou, Alistair Howell, Sarah Quigley, Thomas Jensen, Hanne Jarmer, Kevin M Devine
The essential YycFG two-component system controls cell wall metabolism in Bacillus subtilis.
Mol Microbiol: 2007, 65(1);180-200
[PubMed:17581128] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (P p)

Alistair Howell, Sarah Dubrac, Kasper Krogh Andersen, David Noone, Juliette Fert, Tarek Msadek, Kevin Devine
Genes controlled by the essential YycG/YycF two-component system of Bacillus subtilis revealed through a novel hybrid regulator approach.
Mol Microbiol: 2003, 49(6);1639-55
[PubMed:12950927] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (P p)

Keisuke Fukuchi, Yasuhiro Kasahara, Kei Asai, Kazuo Kobayashi, Shigeki Moriya, Naotake Ogasawara
The essential two-component regulatory system encoded by yycF and yycG modulates expression of the ftsAZ operon in Bacillus subtilis.
Microbiology (Reading): 2000, 146 ( Pt 7);1573-1583
[PubMed:10878122] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (P p)