Relationship between sporulation and mutations impairing glutamine synthetase in Bacillus megaterium

Abstract

Summary A series of twelve glutamine-requiring mutants of B. megaterium was isolated by a procedure which did not include a sporulation step. Mutants belonged to different categories according to their residual level of glutamine synthetase activity, their glutamate synthase activity and their ability to produce cross-reacting material with an antiserum against glutamine synthetase. Nevertheless all of them were unable to sporulate. The comparison of the properties of these mutants with those of strain Gln − 26, a previously isolated sporogenous glutamine synthetase-deficient mutant, leads to the conclusion that glutamine synthetase is likely to play a regulatory role in the control of sporulation.