The spoIIIA operon of Bacillus subtilis defines a new temporal class of mother-cell-specific sporulation genes under the control of the sigma E form of RNA polymerase.

We have cloned and characterized a 5 kbp region of the Bacillus subtilis chromosome and show that it contains the promoter-proximal part of the spoIIIA locus. The locus consists of a polycistronic operon containing at least three genes. We show that the operon is regulated at the transcriptional level, from a promoter that is first activated about 80 minutes after the induction of sporulation, immediately after septation. Expression of spoIIIA in different spo mutant backgrounds correlates with the ability of each strain to synthesize the sporulation-specific sigma factor, sigma E. Moreover, synthesis of sigma E in vegetative cells by use of an inducible promoter causes expression of mother-cell-specific genes spoIID, spoIIIA, and spoIIID, but not the prespore-specific genes, spoIIIG and spoVA. We suggest that sigma E may be the primary determinant of mother-cell-specific gene expression and that the SpoIIID protein exerts an additional level of regulation on spoIIIA, apparently by acting as a transcriptional repressor. Since the onset of spoIIID expression occurs about 10 minutes after that of spoIIIA, spoIIIA expression is transient. Thus spoIIIA defines a third temporal class of gene controlled by the sigma E form of RNA polymerase.