The subtilisin E gene of Bacillus subtilis is transcribed from a sigma 37 promoter in vivo.

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Abstract
A cloned B. subtilis gene (sprE) expressed only during the stationary growth phase is shown to encode the subtillisin E protease, an enzyme associated with sporulation. The DNA sequence of the sprE promoter region and the promoter-proximal half of the structural gene were determined. The sprE gene codes for a putative 29-residue signal peptide and a 77-residue leader peptide preceding the mature subtilisin sequence. By plasmid integration and phage PBS1 transduction, the sprE locus was mapped between glyB and metD on the B. subtilis chromosome, a region also containing the hyperprotease-producing hpr gene. In vitro the sprE gene is transcribed by the minor form of RNA polymerase containing a 37,00-dalton .sigma. factor (.sigma.37). By S1 nuclease mapping it is shown that sprE transcription initiates at dual start sites in vitro and in vivo and that the promoter for the downstream sites has a characteristic .sigma.37 recognition sequence. The physiological role of the .sigma.37 RNA polymerase is apparently to transcribe a class of genes that are catabolite repressed, that encode extracellular enzymes or that are expressed only during the stationary phase of growth.