CspB and CspC are induced upon cold shock in Bacillus cereus strain D2

Bacillus cereus D2, a psychrotrophic strain, plays an essential role in the restoration of heavy metal-contaminated soils, especially at low temperatures. However, the cold shock response mechanisms of this strain are unclear. In this study, the cold shock response of B. cereus D2 was characterized; as per the Arrhenius curve, 10 °C was chosen as the cold shock temperature. Six cold shock-like proteins were found and temporarily named cold shock protein (Csp)1-6; the respective genes were cloned and identified. Quantitative real-time PCR results showed that csp1, csp2, csp3, and csp6 were overexpressed under cold shock conditions. Interestingly, after cloning the respective encoding genes into the pET-28a (+) vector and their subsequent transformation into E. coli BL21 (DE3), the strains expressing Csp2 and Csp6 grew faster at 10 °C, showing a large number of bacteria. These results suggest that Csp2 and Csp6 are the major cold shock proteins in B. cereus D2. Of note, the comparison of amino acid sequences and structures showed that Csp2 and Csp6 belong to the CspB and CspC families, respectively. Additionally, we show that the number of hydrophobic residues is not a determining feature of major Csps, while, on the other hand, the formation of an α-helix in the context of a leucine residue is the most dominant difference between major and other Bacillus and E. coli Csps.