Comprehensive and Comparative Transcriptional Profiling of the Cell Wall Stress Response in <i>Bacillus subtilis</i>
was slightly repressed by most antibiotics, pointing towards a role in envelope homeostasis rather than cell wall stress. It shares this role with the essential TCS WalRK, which balances cell wall growth with controlled autolysis. In contrast, all remaining TCSs are envelope stress-inducible systems. LiaRS is induced by a wide range of PG synthesis inhibitors, while the three paralogous systems BceAB, PsdRS, and ApeRS are more compound-specific detoxification modules. Induction of the CssRS TCS by all antibiotics interfering with membrane-anchored steps of PG biosynthesis points toward a physiological link between CESR and secretion stress. Based on the expression signatures, a series of CESR-specific B. subtilis whole-cell biosensors were developed and carefully evaluated. Overall, this comprehensive transcriptomic study establishes a reference framework for future studies of Gram-positive stress responses triggered by cell wall-targeting antibiotics.
Authors
- Charlène Cornilleau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-6591-8706)
- Lena Friebel
- Vincent Fromion (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9194-5426)
- Cyprien Guérin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6102-7002)
- Thorsten Mascher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6300-5541)
- Diana Wolf (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5954-7172)
- Pierre Nicolas
- Pierre Flores
- Doreen Meier
- Sarah Spitzner
- Raphael R. Müller
- Rut Carballido‐López
- Qian Zhang
Institutions
- Philipps University of Marburg (DE)
- Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen (DE)
- AgroParisTech (FR)
- Université Paris-Saclay (FR)
- Microbiologie de l’alimentation au service de la santé (FR)
- Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR)
- Loewe Center for Synthetic Microbiology (DE)
- Technische Universität Dresden (DE)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Molecular Microbiology
- Published
- 2026-04-16
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1111/mmi.70069
- Primary Topic
- Bacterial Genetics and Biotechnology
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
- China Scholarship Council
- European Research Council
- Graduiertenakademie, Technische Universität Dresden
- H2020 European Research Council