Figure 2

Role of SigE in response to environmental stresses. (A) RB50 (squares) and RB50ΔsigE (triangles) grow similarly at 37°C in Stainer-Scholte broth. (B) RB50ΔsigE (white bars) is more sensitive than RB50 (grey bars) to treatment with 100 μg mecillinam, 10 μg ampicillin, or 750 μg SDS and 2.9 μg EDTA, but is similarly sensitive to treatment with 300 IU polymyxin B in disk diffusion assays. The average diameters of the zones of inhibition ± SE from at least three independent experiments are shown. The disk diameter was 6 mm. The observed differences between the zones of inhibition for RB50 and the sigE mutant are statistically significant for mecillinam, ampicillin, and SDS-EDTA (* indicates a P-value of < 0.05; ** indicates a P-value < 0.01). (C) RB50ΔsigE (triangles) is more sensitive than RB50 (squares) to heat shock (solid line, filled symbols) caused by shifting cultures from 37°C to 50°C. RB50ΔsigE also exhibits reduced thermotolerance (dashed line, open symbols), surviving less well than RB50 when adapted first to 40°C before a shift to 50°C. The mean percent survival±SE of fifteen independent experiments for each strain is shown. (D) RB50ΔsigE containing the empty cloning vector pEV (open triangles) is more sensitive to treatment with 3% ethanol than RB50 pEV (squares). Expression of plasmid-encoded SigE (RB50ΔsigE pSigE) restores growth in 3% ethanol (filled triangles) to near wild-type levels at the 6 and 12 hour time points and partially restores growth at the 24 hour time point. The mean OD₆₀₀ ± SE of at least four independent experiments is shown for each strain.