Molecular Biology of Bacillus subtilis Cytochromes anno 2020

Bacillus subtilis serves as a model Gram-positive bacterium and an experimental system for research on respiratory enzymes. This review presents the heme proteins currently known for the well-characterized laboratory strain B. subtilis 168. It focuses on advances in research made during the last three decades concerning the function and composition of the cytochrome bc complex, terminal oxidases, and succinate:menaquinone oxidoreductase. The aerobic respiratory system of strain 168 seems representative for the species B. subtilis, as determined by the cytochrome composition of the undomesticated strain B. subtilis NCIB 3610 and a set of constructed cytochrome-deficient mutants of this strain. Unexplained and unsettled aspects of the molecular biology of respiratory cytochromes in B. subtilis are highlighted in the review.