(p)ppGpp

An important player during heat shock response

authored by

Kristina Driller, Fabián A. Cornejo, Kürşad Turgay

Abstract

The alarmones and second messengers (p)ppGpp are important for the cellular response to amino acid starvation. Although the stringent response is present in many bacteria, the targets and functions of (p)ppGpp can differ between species, and our knowledge of (p)ppGpp targets is constantly expanding. Recently, it was demonstrated that these alarmones are also part of the heat shock response in Bacillus subtilis and that there is a functional overlap with the oxidative and heat stress transcriptional regulator Spx. Here, the (p)ppGpp second messenger alarmones allow the fast stress-induced downregulation of translation while Spx inhibits the further expression of translation-related genes to lower the load on the protein quality control system, while the chaperone and protease expression is induced. In this review, we discuss the role of (p)ppGpp and its intricate connections in the complex network of stress sensing, heat shock response, and adaptation in B. subtilis cells.

Organisation(s)

Institute of Microbiology

External Organisation(s)

Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens (MPUSP)

Type

Review article

Journal

MicroLife

Volume

4

Publication date

06.04.2023

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

General Immunology and Microbiology

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1093/femsml/uqad017 (Access: Open)