EpsC

• Description: extracellular polysaccharide synthesis, this gene is inactive in B. subtilis 168
  
  

Gene name	epsC
Synonyms	yveM
Essential	no
Product	unknown
Function	biofilm formation
Regulation of this protein in SubtiPathways: Biofilm
MW, pI	66 kDa, 8.775
Gene length, protein length	1794 bp, 598 aa
Immediate neighbours	epsD, epsB
Get the DNA and protein sequences (Barbe et al., 2009)
Genetic context This image was kindly provided by SubtiList

Categories containing this gene/protein

biofilm formation, membrane proteins

This gene is a member of the following regulons

AbrB regulon, EAR riboswitch, SinR regulon

The gene

Basic information

• Locus tag: BSU34350

Database entries

• DBTBS entry: [1]

• SubtiList entry: [2]

Additional information

• Correction of sfp, epsC, swrAA, and degQ as well as introduction of rapP from a plasmid present in NCIB3610 results in biofilm formation in B. subtilis 168 PubMed

The protein

Basic information/ Evolution

• Catalyzed reaction/ biological activity:

• Protein family: polysaccharide synthase family (according to Swiss-Prot)

• Paralogous protein(s):

Extended information on the protein

• Kinetic information:

• Domains:

• Modification:

• Cofactor(s):

• Effectors of protein activity:

• Interactions:

• Localization: cell membrane (according to Swiss-Prot)

Database entries

• Structure:

• UniProt: P71052

• KEGG entry: [3]

• E.C. number:

Expression and regulation

• Operon: epsA-epsB-epsC-epsD-epsE-epsF-epsG-epsH-epsI-epsJ-epsK-epsL-epsM-epsN-epsO PubMed

• Sigma factor: SigA PubMed

• Regulation:
  • repressed by SinR PubMed

• Regulatory mechanism:
  • SinR: transcription repression PubMed
  • AbrB: transcription repression PubMed

• Additional information:
  • induction by sequestration of SinR by SinI or SlrA PubMed
  • EAR (eps-associated RNA switch) located between epsB and epsC mediates processive antitermination and allows expression of the long eps operon PubMed

Biological materials

• Mutant:

• Expression vector:

• lacZ fusion:

• GFP fusion:

• two-hybrid system:

• Antibody:

Labs working on this gene/protein

Richard Losick, Harvard Univ., Cambridge, USA homepage

References

Reviews

Massimiliano Marvasi, Pieter T Visscher, Lilliam Casillas Martinez
Exopolymeric substances (EPS) from Bacillus subtilis: polymers and genes encoding their synthesis.
FEMS Microbiol Lett: 2010, 313(1);1-9
[PubMed:20735481] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

Irina Artsimovitch
A processive riboantiterminator seeks a switch to make biofilms.
Mol Microbiol: 2010, 76(3);535-9
[PubMed:20384681] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

Regulation of the eps operon

Additional publications: PubMed

Other original publications

Anna L McLoon, Sarah B Guttenplan, Daniel B Kearns, Roberto Kolter, Richard Losick
Tracing the domestication of a biofilm-forming bacterium.
J Bacteriol: 2011, 193(8);2027-34
[PubMed:21278284] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)