The gene of the Bacillus subtilis cold shock protein (CspB) encodes
an acidic 67-amino-acid protein (pI 4.31) with a predicted
molecular mass of 7,365 Da. Northern RNA blot and primer extension
studies indicated the presence of one cspB transcript that was
initiated 119 bp upstream of the initiation codon and was found to
be induced severalfold when exponentially growing B. subtilis cell
cultures were transferred from 37 degrees C to 10 degrees C.
Consistent with this cold shock induction of cspB mRNA, a six- to
eightfold induction of a cspB-directed beta-galactosidase synthesis
was observed upon downshift in temperature.
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