Three projects concerning the control of transcription in Bacilli will be investigated. Project 1 will be a continuation of a long-term study of the properties, specificities and mechanisms of action of three forms of RNA polymerase which regulate the development of phage SP82 in Bacillus subtilis. Studies will also be conducted on the delta peptide of the B. subtilis RNA polymerase. In Project 2, we will continue investigations of the mechanism regulating the synthesis of late RNA in the infection of B. subtilis by phage 029. The modification of RNA polymerase is probably not involved in regulating the development of this phage, but this has not been established with certainty. We will also investigate the selective inhibitory effect of a phage-coded peptide on the transcription from one early promoter. The mechanisms regulating the sporulation-dependent synthesis of the crystal protein of B. thuringiensis will be studied in Project 3. We have cloned this gene and determined that the structure of the promoter is significantly different from that of promoters recognized by RNA polymerase present in vegetative cells. In future experiments, major emphasis will be given to the isolation and characterization of RNA polymerases capable of transcribing this gene and to comparisons of the promoter structures of other crystal protein genes.
