SpoIVA (Sporulation stage IV protein A) acts in the mother cell compartment and plays a role in spore coat morphogenesis. A comparative genome analysis of all sequenced genomes of Firmicutes shows that the proteins are strictly conserved among the sub-set of endospore-forming species [1,2]. This entry represents the C-terminal domain of SpoIVA, which plays a key role in targeting the protein to the outer forespore membrane, in particular the five hydrophobic residues at the extreme C-terminal are essential for this function [1,2]. Structure predictions suggest that it has three conserved alpha helices followed by a beta-hairpin [1].

1: ATP hydrolysis by a domain related to translation factor GTPases drives polymerization of a static bacterial morphogenetic protein. Castaing JP, Nagy A, Anantharaman V, Aravind L, Ramamurthi KS; Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2013;110:E151-E160. PMID:23267091

2: A four-dimensional view of assembly of a morphogenetic protein during sporulation in Bacillus subtilis. Price KD, Losick R; J Bacteriol. 1999;181:781-790. PMID:9922240