Isolation of a Bacillus subtilis spoIIGA allele that suppresses processing-negative mutations in the Pro-sigma E gene (sigE).

sigma E, a sporulation-essential sigma factor of Bacillus subtilis, is formed by a developmentally regulated proteolysis which removes 27 to 29 amino acids from the amino terminus of an inactive precursor protein (Pro-sigma E). A mutation which facilitates the conversion of inefficiently processed Pro-sigma E variants into mature sigma E was identified and mapped to spoIIGA. The isolation of such a mutation argues that SpoIIGA is directly involved in the Pro-sigma E processing reaction.