A Bacillus subtilis gene encoding a protein similar to nucleotide sugar transferases influences cell shape and viability.

Bacillus subtilis gene ypfP, which is located at 196 degrees on the genetic map, shows similarity to both the monogalactosyldiacylglycerol synthase gene of Cucumis sativus, which encodes a galactosyltransferase, and the murG genes of B. subtilis, Escherichia coli, Haemophilus influenzae, and Synechocystis sp. strain PCC6803, which encode N-acetylglucosaminyltransferases involved in peptidoglycan biosynthesis. Cells containing a null mutation of ypfP are shorter and rounder than wild-type cells during growth in Luria-Bertani medium and glucose minimal medium. In addition, the mutant cells preferentially undergo lysis when grown on solid Luria-Bertani medium.