# ROLE OF RNA POLYMERASE IN BACTERIAL DIFFERENTIATION

> **NIH NIH R01** · EMORY UNIVERSITY · 1992 · $230,345

## Abstract

As the bacterium Bacillus subtilis differentiates from the vegetative
form into a dormant endospore, complex morphological and physiological
changes that occur that require the expression of many genes.  During
the process, new RNA polymerase sigma subunits appear, displacing one
another and conferring on the RNA polymerase different specificities for
the recognition of different classes of promoters.  This mechanism of
altering transcriptional specificity is a fundamental element in the
regulation of sporulation gene expression.  However, non-sigma
regulatory factors are also essential for the regulation of gene
expression during sporulation.

Experiments are proposed to determine the role of different secondary
sigma factors in sporulation and how the primary sigma factor in
vegetative cells, theta A, is used to direct transcription of at least
two key operons during sporulation.  Additional experiments are proposed
to determine how expression of specific genes is limited exclusively to
one of the two compartments of the differentiating cell.

The problem of regulating ordered expression of many different sets of
genes is a common one in biology, faced in every procaryotic and
eukaryotic organism that must execute a complex program of development.
Many specific aspects of the solution to this problem will be directly
relevant to understanding the regulation of differentiation and
secondary metabolism in a broad range of bacteria.  Examples include
antibiotic biosynthesis in Streptomyces and the production virulence
factors bacterial pathogens.  Furthermore, the sporulation-induced
transcription factors present an opportunity to study the interactions
of sigma factors and RNA polymerase with several types of ancillary
transcription factors.  The biochemical principals that govern
regulation of promoter activity by combinations of these factors are
probably relevant to RNA polymerases in all organisms.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3129891
- **Project number:** 5R01AI020319-10
- **Recipient organization:** EMORY UNIVERSITY
- **SAM.gov UEI:** S352L5PJLMP8
- **Principal Investigator:** Charles P. Moran
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1992
- **Award amount:** $230,345
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1983-07-01 → 1996-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3129891

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3129891, ROLE OF RNA POLYMERASE IN BACTERIAL DIFFERENTIATION (5R01AI020319-10). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3129891. Licensed CC0.

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