Person:
Bradshaw, Niels

Profile Picture

Email Address

AA Acceptance Date

Birth Date

Research Projects

Organizational Units

Job Title

Last Name

Bradshaw

First Name

Niels

Name

Bradshaw, Niels
Author's Publications: search.filters.isAuthorOfPublication.94c6d9ae-beab-4933-8f8b-823445a2862c

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    A serine sensor for multicellularity in a bacterium
    (eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd, 2013) Subramaniam, Arvind R; DeLoughery, Aaron; Bradshaw, Niels; Chen, Yun; O’Shea, Erin; Losick, Richard; Chai, Yunrong
    We report the discovery of a simple environmental sensing mechanism for biofilm formation in the bacterium Bacillus subtilis that operates without the involvement of a dedicated RNA or protein. Certain serine codons, the four TCN codons, in the gene for the biofilm repressor SinR caused a lowering of SinR levels under biofilm-inducing conditions. Synonymous substitutions of these TCN codons with AGC or AGT impaired biofilm formation and gene expression. Conversely, switching AGC or AGT to TCN codons upregulated biofilm formation. Genome-wide ribosome profiling showed that ribosome density was higher at UCN codons than at AGC or AGU during biofilm formation. Serine starvation recapitulated the effect of biofilm-inducing conditions on ribosome occupancy and SinR production. As serine is one of the first amino acids to be exhausted at the end of exponential phase growth, reduced translation speed at serine codons may be exploited by other microbes in adapting to stationary phase. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.01501.001
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Asymmetric division triggers cell-specific gene expression through coupled capture and stabilization of a phosphatase
    (eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd, 2015) Bradshaw, Niels; Losick, Richard
    Formation of a division septum near a randomly chosen pole during sporulation in Bacillus subtilis creates unequal sized daughter cells with dissimilar programs of gene expression. An unanswered question is how polar septation activates a transcription factor (σF) selectively in the small cell. We present evidence that the upstream regulator of σF, the phosphatase SpoIIE, is compartmentalized in the small cell by transfer from the polar septum to the adjacent cell pole where SpoIIE is protected from proteolysis and activated. Polar recognition, protection from proteolysis, and stimulation of phosphatase activity are linked to oligomerization of SpoIIE. This mechanism for initiating cell-specific gene expression is independent of additional sporulation proteins; vegetative cells engineered to divide near a pole sequester SpoIIE and activate σF in small cells. Thus, a simple model explains how SpoIIE responds to a stochastically-generated cue to activate σF at the right time and in the right place. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.08145.001
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    Morphogenic Protein RodZ Interacts with Sporulation Specific SpoIIE in Bacillus subtilis
    (Public Library of Science, 2016) Muchová, Katarína; Chromiková, Zuzana; Bradshaw, Niels; Wilkinson, Anthony J.; Barák, Imrich
    The first landmark in sporulation of Bacillus subtilis is the formation of an asymmetric septum followed by selective activation of the transcription factor σF in the resulting smaller cell. How the morphological transformations that occur during sporulation are coupled to cell-specific activation of transcription is largely unknown. The membrane protein SpoIIE is a constituent of the asymmetric sporulation septum and is a crucial determinant of σF activation. Here we report that the morphogenic protein, RodZ, which is essential for cell shape determination, is additionally required for asymmetric septum formation and sporulation. In cells depleted of RodZ, formation of asymmetric septa is disturbed and σF activation is perturbed. During sporulation, we found that SpoIIE recruits RodZ to the asymmetric septum. Moreover, we detected a direct interaction between SpoIIE and RodZ in vitro and in vivo, indicating that SpoIIE-RodZ may form a complex to coordinate asymmetric septum formation and σF activation. We propose that RodZ could provide a link between the cell shape machinery and the coordinated morphological and developmental transitions required to form a resistant spore.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Publication
    A widespread family of serine/threonine protein phosphatases shares a common regulatory switch with proteasomal proteases
    (eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd, 2017) Bradshaw, Niels; Levdikov, Vladimir M; Zimanyi, Christina M; Gaudet, Rachelle; Wilkinson, Anthony J; Losick, Richard
    PP2C phosphatases control biological processes including stress responses, development, and cell division in all kingdoms of life. Diverse regulatory domains adapt PP2C phosphatases to specific functions, but how these domains control phosphatase activity was unknown. We present structures representing active and inactive states of the PP2C phosphatase SpoIIE from Bacillus subtilis. Based on structural analyses and genetic and biochemical experiments, we identify an α-helical switch that shifts a carbonyl oxygen into the active site to coordinate a metal cofactor. Our analysis indicates that this switch is widely conserved among PP2C family members, serving as a platform to control phosphatase activity in response to diverse inputs. Remarkably, the switch is shared with proteasomal proteases, which we identify as evolutionary and structural relatives of PP2C phosphatases. Although these proteases use an unrelated catalytic mechanism, rotation of equivalent helices controls protease activity by movement of the equivalent carbonyl oxygen into the active site. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.26111.001