The stringent response enables bacteria to respond to nutrient limitation and other stress conditions through production of the nucleotide-based second messengers ppGpp and pppGpp, collectively known as (p)ppGpp. Here, we report that (p)ppGpp inhibits the signal recognition particle (SRP)-dependent protein targeting pathway, which is essential for membrane protein biogenesis and protein secretion. More specifically, (p)ppGpp binds to the SRP GTPases Ffh and FtsY, and inhibits the formation of the SRP receptor-targeting complex, which is central for the coordinated binding of the translating ribosome to the SecYEG translocon. Cryo-EM analysis of SRP bound to translating ribosomes suggests that (p)ppGpp may induce a distinct conformational stabilization of the NG domain of Ffh and FtsY in Bacillus subtilis but not in E. coli.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Center for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO) and Department of Chemistry Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marburg, Germany. laura.czech@staff.uni-marburg.de.
Center for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO) and Department of Chemistry Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
Gene Center Munich, Department of Biochemistry, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, LMU, Munich, Germany.
Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Medicine, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
Faculty of Biology, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany.
Institut für Zytobiologie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
Core Facility "Protein Biochemistry and Spectroscopy", Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
Center for Synthetic Microbiology (SYNMIKRO) and Department of Chemistry Philipps-Universität Marburg, Marburg, Germany. gert.bange@synmikro.uni-marburg.de.
Max-Planck Institute for terrestrial Microbiology, Marburg, Germany. gert.bange@synmikro.uni-marburg.de.