The Bacillus Subtilis Endospore: Assembly and Functions of the Multilayered Coat

Overview

Journal Nat Rev Microbiol

Specialties Infectious Diseases
Microbiology

Date 2012 Dec 4

PMID 23202530

Citations 220

Authors

Peter T McKenney

Adam Driks

Patrick Eichenberger

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Sporulation in Bacillus subtilis involves an asymmetric cell division followed by differentiation into two cell types, the endospore and the mother cell. The endospore coat is a multilayered shell that protects the bacterial genome during stress conditions and is composed of dozens of proteins. Recently, fluorescence microscopy coupled with high-resolution image analysis has been applied to the dynamic process of coat assembly and has shown that the coat is organized into at least four distinct layers. In this Review, we provide a brief summary of B. subtilis sporulation, describe the function of the spore surface layers and discuss the recent progress that has improved our understanding of the structure of the endospore coat and the mechanisms of coat assembly.

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