WalK

• Description: two-component sensor kinase, controls cell wall metabolism, co-ordinates cell wall remodelling with cell division by controlling the transcription of genes for autolysins and their inhibitors
  
  

Gene name	walK
Synonyms	yycG
Essential	yes PubMed
Product	two-component sensor kinase (OmpR family)
Function	control of cell wall metabolism
Gene expression levels in SubtiExpress: walK
Interactions involving this protein in SubtInteract: WalK
MW, pI	69 kDa, 4.775
Gene length, protein length	1833 bp, 611 aa
Immediate neighbours	yycH, walR
Sequences	Protein DNA DNA_with_flanks
Genetic context This image was kindly provided by SubtiList
Expression at a glance   PubMed

Categories containing this gene/protein

cell wall/ other, protein modification, transcription factors and their control, essential genes, membrane proteins, phosphoproteins

The gene

Basic information

• Locus tag: BSU40400

Phenotypes of a mutant

essential PubMed

Database entries

• BsubCyc: BSU40400

• DBTBS entry: [1]

• SubtiList entry: [2]

The protein

Basic information/ Evolution

• Catalyzed reaction/ biological activity: autophosphorylation, phosphorylation of WalR

• Protein family: two-component sensor kinase of the OmpR family

• Paralogous protein(s):

Extended information on the protein

• Kinetic information:

• Domains: two transmembrane segments, C-terminal histidine phosphotransferase domain

• Modification: autophosphorylation on a His residue

• Cofactor(s):

• Effectors of protein activity:

• Interactions:
  • WalK-WalR
  • WalK-YycH PubMed,
  • WalK-YycI PubMed
  • WalK-DivIB PubMed
  • WalK-FtsL PubMed
  • WalK-PbpB PubMed
  • WalK-FtsZ PubMed

• Localization:
  • cell membrane PubMed
  • part of the division septum in growing cells, interacts with the divisome PubMed

Database entries

• BsubCyc: BSU40400

• Structure:
  • 3SL2 (complex of the ATP binding histidine kinase domain with ATP) PubMed

• UniProt: Q45614

• KEGG entry: [3]

• E.C. number:

Expression and regulation

• Operon: walR-walK-yycH-yycI-walJ-htrC PubMed

• Expression browser: walK PubMed

• Sigma factor:

• Regulation: expressed during vegetative growth, repressed during stationary phase PubMed

• Regulatory mechanism:

• Additional information:
  • number of protein molecules per cell (complex medium with amino acids, without glucose): 236 PubMed

Biological materials

• Mutant:

• Expression vector:

• lacZ fusion:

• GFP fusion:

• two-hybrid system:

• Antibody:

References

Reviews

Sarah Dubrac, Paola Bisicchia, Kevin M Devine, Tarek Msadek
A matter of life and death: cell wall homeostasis and the WalKR (YycGF) essential signal transduction pathway.
Mol Microbiol: 2008, 70(6);1307-22
[PubMed:19019149] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

Sarah Dubrac, Tarek Msadek
Tearing down the wall: peptidoglycan metabolism and the WalK/WalR (YycG/YycF) essential two-component system.
Adv Exp Med Biol: 2008, 631;214-28
[PubMed:18792692] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (P p)

Malcolm E Winkler, James A Hoch
Essentiality, bypass, and targeting of the YycFG (VicRK) two-component regulatory system in gram-positive bacteria.
J Bacteriol: 2008, 190(8);2645-8
[PubMed:18245295] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (I p)

C Fabret, V A Feher, J A Hoch
Two-component signal transduction in Bacillus subtilis: how one organism sees its world.
J Bacteriol: 1999, 181(7);1975-83
[PubMed:10094672] [WorldCat.org] [DOI] (P p)