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Cited by 7Bacterial Genetics and BiotechnologyGene Regulatory Network AnalysisRedox biology and oxidative stress

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A general mechanism for initiating the bacterial general stress response

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Baral, Rishika, Ho, Kristin, Kumar, Ramasamy P, Hopkins, Jesse B, Watkins, Maxwell B, LaRussa, Salvatore, Caban-Penix, Suhaily, Calderone, Logan A, Bradshaw, Niels·2025·eLife
DOI 10.7554/elife.100376.3PMC PMC12143880

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Abstract

The General Stress Response promotes survival of bacteria in adverse conditions, but how sensor proteins transduce species-specific signals to initiate the response is not known. The serine/threonine phosphatase RsbU initiates the General Stress Response in Bacillus subtilis upon binding a partner protein (RsbT) that is released from sequestration by environmental stresses. We report that RsbT activates RsbU by inducing otherwise flexible linkers of RsbU to form a short coiled-coil that dimerizes and activates the phosphatase domains. Importantly, we present evidence that related coiled-coil linkers and phosphatase dimers transduce signals from diverse sensor domains to control the General Stress Response and other signaling across bacterial phyla. This coiled-coil linker transduction mechanism additionally suggests a resolution to the mystery of how shared sensory domains control serine/threonine phosphatases, diguanylate cyclases and histidine kinases. We propose that this provides bacteria with a modularly exchangeable toolkit for the evolution of diverse signaling pathways.

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Metadata

Authors
Baral, R., Ho, K., Kumar, R. P., Hopkins, J. B., Watkins, M. B., LaRussa, S., Caban-Penix, S., Calderone, L. A., & Bradshaw, N.
Affiliations
  • Brandeis University (US)
  • Illinois Institute of Technology (US)
Corresponding author
Bradshaw, Niels
ORCID
Venue
eLife
Publisher
eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
Published
2025-06-06
Volume
13
ISSN
2050-084X (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.7554/elife.100376.3
PMC
PMC12143880
OpenAlex
W4391917866
Cited by
7
References
1
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 2
Type
posted content
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • eLife (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • Brandeis University (Startup Funds)
  • National Institutes of Health (T32 GM135126, T32 GM007122, P30 GM138395)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Bacterial Genetics and Biotechnology
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Gene Regulatory Network Analysis
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Redox biology and oxidative stress
Keywords
general stress response, RsbU, serine/threonine phosphatase, protein dimerization, signal transduction, sensor proteins, Bacillus subtilis, diguanylate cyclase, histidine kinase

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