Members of the Laboratory of Translatomics, led by Agata Starosta, described the transcriptome and translatome of the Bacillus subtilis during sporulation.
The authors used a combination of high-throughput sequencing of the transcriptome (RNA-seq) and translatome (RIBO-seq, ribosome profiling) and confocal microscopy to monitor the translatome and translational machinery during sporulation. The authors monitored ribosome localization, as well as active translation and protein synthesis. The results show that (I) Translation and the translational machinery are temporally and spatially organized in B. subtilis cells during sporulation, especially during asymmetric septation – proving the hypothesis of uncoupled transcription-translation in this bacterium. (II) Translation undergoes two silencing events during sporulation, first at the entry into quiescence and then at the end of sporulation, in preparation for dormancy.
Moreover, the authors investigated the role of three zinc-independent paralogs of zinc-dependent canonical ribosomal proteins to unveil their influence on the regulation of the sporulation process using a triple knock-out strain. They showed that triple knock-out strain demonstrated delayed sporulation and reduced germination efficiency, as well as dysregulated translation of key sporulation and metabolism related genes and disruptions in the translation silencing pattern in comparison to WT.

The results of the study were published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications.
The work was supported by the Foundation for Polish Science (FIRST TEAM grant) and EMBO (Installation Grant).

The article is available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-51654-6