The SinR*SlrR heteromer attenuates transcription of a long operon of flagellar genes in Bacillus subtilis

During growth, Bacillus subtilis differentiates into subpopulations of motile individuals and non-motile chains, associated with dispersal and biofilm formation respectively. The two cell types are dictated by the activity of the alternative sigma factor SigD encoded as the penultimate gene of the 27 kb long fla/che flagellar operon. The frequency of SigD-ON motile cells is increased by the heteromeric transcription factor SwrA*DegU that activates the fla/che promoter. Conversely, the frequency of motile cells is decreased by the heteromeric transcription factor SinR*SlrR, but the mechanism and location of inhibition is poorly understood. Here, using ChIP-Seq analysis, we determine the binding sites of the SinR*SlrR heteromer on the genome. We identified two sites within the fla/che operon that were both necessary and sufficient to attenuate transcript abundance by causing premature termination upstream of the gene that encodes SigD. Thus, cell motility and the transition to biofilm formation depend on the expression of a long operon governed by two opposing heteromeric transcription factors that operate at two different stages of the transcription cycle. More broadly, our study serves as a model for transcription factors that control transcriptional elongation and the regulation of long operons in bacteria.