Methionine Residues in Exoproteins and Their Recycling by Methionine Sulfoxide Reductase AB Serve as an Antioxidant Strategy in Bacillus cereus

During aerobic respiratory growth, is exposed to continuously reactive oxidant, produced by partially reduced forms of molecular oxygen, known as reactive oxygen species (ROS). The sulfur-containing amino acid, methionine (Met), is particularly susceptible to ROS. The major oxidation products, methionine sulfoxides, can be readily repaired by methionine sulfoxide reductases, which reduce methionine sulfoxides [Met(O)] back to methionine. Here, we show that methionine sulfoxide reductase AB (MsrAB) regulates the Met(O) content of both the cellular proteome and exoproteome of in a growth phase-dependent manner. Disruption of leads to metabolism changes resulting in enhanced export of Met(O) proteins at the late exponential growth phase and enhanced degradation of exoproteins. This suggests that can modulate its capacity and specificity for protein export/secretion through the growth phase-dependent expression of . Our results also show that cytoplasmic MsrAB recycles Met residues in enterotoxins, which are major virulence factors in .