Description
This enzyme plays a central role in a regulatory checkpoint (the σK checkpoint), which coordinates gene expression during the later stages of spore formation in Bacillus subtilis. The enzyme activates proteolytic processing of a sporulation-specific sigma factor, pro-σK, to its mature and active form, σK, by self-cleavage. The enzyme is also subject to secondary proteolysis, which presumably inactivates SpoIVB. The enzyme is also essential for the formation of heat-resistant spores. Belongs in peptidase family S55