Bacillus Subtilis Mutant Research Articles

Resistance of a Bacillus subtilis mutant to a group of temperate bacteriophages.

A mutant of Bacillus subtilis 168 was isolated which resists infection by all the group III temperate bacteriophages except SPR, while allowing full infection by phages of the other groups (I, II and IV). The mutation conferring this phenotype, pha-3, shows 52-54% PBS1-mediated cotransduction with the hisAl marker, mapping therefore in the gtaA and gtaB region of the B. subtilis chromosome. Nevertheless, it does not affect the infection by phages sensitive to gta mutations.

Effect of L-phenylalanine and L-methionine on the appearance of L-tryptophan-producing mutants of Bacillus subtilis K.

Effect of L-phenylalanine and L-methionine on the appearance of L-tryptophan-producing mutants of Bacillus subtilis K.

Cell wall and DNA cosegregation in Bacillus subtilis studied by electron microscope autoradiography.

Cells of a Bacillus subtilis mutant deficient in both major autolytic enzyme activities were continuously labeled in either cell wall or DNA or both cell wall and DNA. After appropriate periods of chase in minimal as well as in rich medium, thin sections of cells were autoradiographed and examined by electron microscopy. The resolution of the method was adequate to distinguish labeled DNA units from cell wall units. The latter, which could be easily identified, were shown to segregate symmetrically, suggesting a zonal mode of new wall insertion. DNA units could also be clearly recognized despite a limited fragmentation; they segregated asymmetrically with respect to the nearest septum. Analysis of cells simultaneously labeled in cell wall and DNA provided clear visual evidence of their regular but asymmetrical cosegregation, confirming a previous report obtained by light microscope autoradiography (J.-M. Schlaeppi and D. Karamata, J. Bacteriol. 152:1231-1240, 1982). In addition to labeled wall units, electron microscopy of thin sections of aligned cells has revealed fibrillar networks of wall material which are frequently associated with the cell surface. Most likely, these structures correspond to wall sloughed off by the turnover mechanism but not yet degraded to filterable or acid-soluble components.

An RNA-DNA copolymer whose synthesis is correlated with the transcriptional requirement for chromosomal initiation in Bacillus subtilis contains ribosomal RNA sequences

During synchronous replication induced in a temperature-sensitive initiation mutant of Bacillus subtilis, we previously isolated an RNA covalently linked to DNA. This molecule was synthesized at specific times, correlated with the period of transcription that is required to initiate a new round of replication. In this paper, we show that both RNA and DNA components of the RNA-DNA molecule hybridized with the coding strand for ribosomal RNA. Competition hybridization experiments also demonstrated that ribosomal RNA sequences represent the great majority of the RNA that is linked to DNA. Both RNA and DNA components of the RNA-DNA molecule also hybridized with a region close to the origin of replication, in particular with E19 and E22, two restriction fragments that are replicated early. These fragments in fact form part of the ribosomal operon rrnO. The role of the RNA-linked DNA molecule in initiation in B. subtilis and the possibility that this molecule emanates directly from rrnO rather than from other ribosomal RNA genes are discussed.

Synthesis of oxaloacetate in Bacillus subtilis mutants lacking the 2-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase enzymatic complex.

Bacillus subtilis mutants deficient in the 2-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase enzymatic complex required aspartate for growth at wild-type rates on carbon sources for which synthesis of the degradative enzymes is sensitive to catabolite repression (e.g., poor carbon sources), but did not require aspartate for growth on carbon sources which exert catabolite repression (e.g., good carbon sources). Measurement of metabolite pools in a mutant lacking the 2-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase active complex showed that the aspartate requirement for growth on poor carbon sources resulted from a deficiency in intracellular oxaloacetate pools even through pyruvate carboxylase was present at levels corresponding to those in wild-type cells. The oxaloacetate deficiency most likely resulted from the inability of the mutant to regenerate oxaloacetate from citrate due to the enzymatic block in the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Mutants in the enzymes of the dicarboxylic acid half of the citric acid cycle similarly required aspartate for wild-type growth in minimal medium. These results suggested that the complete turning of the tricarboxylic acid cycle is involved in the maintainance of oxaloacetate levels in B. subtilis. The ability of the mutants lacking the 2-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase enzymatic complex to grow at wild-type rates on media containing good carbon sources in the absence of exogenous aspartate is not understood.

2-Ketoglutarate and the regulation of aconitase and histidase formation in Bacillus subtilis.

In contrast to wild-type cells, the Bacillus subtilis mutant SF109 that lacks the active 2-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase enzymatic complex is unable to increase the specific activity of two enzymes subject to glucose catabolite repression, aconitase and histidase, during limitation of growth by glucose. Examination of the intracellular metabolite pools in the mutant and wild-type cells grown in excess and limiting glucose medium showed that the complete derepression of aconitase and histidase could be correlated with the decrease in the intracellular concentration of 2-ketoglutarate. The complete repression of aconitase that occurred in wild-type and mutant cells could be correlated with a high intracellular concentration of 2-ketoglutarate.

Expression of Bacillus megaterium and Bacillus subtilis small acid-soluble spore protein genes during stationary-phase growth of asporogenous B. subtilis mutants.

The small acid-soluble spore proteins alpha and beta were not detected during stationary-phase growth of asporogenous Bacillus subtilis mutants blocked in stages 0, II, or III, but mutants blocked in stages IV or V accumulated nearly wild-type levels of these small acid-soluble spore proteins. Similar results were obtained when production of Bacillus megaterium C protein (also a small acid-soluble spore protein), as well as alpha and beta, were monitored in these mutants containing a recombinant plasmid carrying the B. megaterium C protein gene. The only exception was a spo0H mutant which synthesized a small amount of C protein, but no alpha or beta.

Absence of correlation between rates of cell wall turnover and autolysis shown by Bacillus subtilis mutants.

Bacillus subtilis mutants with reduced rates of cell wall autolysis reached a constant rate of wall turnover after a longer lag than the standard strain but eventually showed the same turnover rate. In reverse, a turnover-deficient mutant autolysed at a slightly higher rate than the standard strain. Consequently, there is no correlation between the rates of cell wall turnover and autolysis.

Characterization of Bacillus subtilis mutants with a temperature-sensitive intracellular protease.

A colony screening procedure was devised to detect Bacillus subtilis mutants containing temperature-sensitive trypsin-like intracellular protease activity. The enzyme was characterized as a non-sulfhydryl serine protease on the basis of inhibitor studies. It was also inhibited by D- or L-histidine but not by any other amino acid tested. The long-term survival at 45 degrees C of these mutants in a minimal salts medium was decreased, with rapid lysis occurring within 24 h. A D-histidine function in long-term survival and inhibition accounted for the presence of additional protease mutants among survivors of histidine auxotrophs selected for their ability to utilize D-histidine. In addition to being lysed when incubated at 45 degrees C under nongrowth conditions, all of the protease mutants had a decreased rate of protein turnover and produced spores deficient in a major low-molecular-weight spore coat polypeptide. The morphology of the undercoat layers was altered, but there was no effect on spore heat resistance or on germination. The missing spore coat polypeptide appeared to be processed from a larger precursor by cleavage to produce N-terminal histidine. A defect in this protease could account for the lack of processing and thus the absence of this polypeptide in spore coats.

Properties of a Bacillus subtilis mutant able to sporulate continually during growth in synthetic medium.

Several mutants of Bacillus subtilis were isolated which sporulate continually during exponential growth in glucose medium. The spdA1 mutation, responsible for the continual sporulation of one of the mutants, mapped near thr. When an exponentially growing culture of a strain containing spdA1 was maintained at essentially constant turbidity, 5% of the viable cells contained heat-resistant spores. The continual sporulation depended on the stringent response since it was absent in spdA relA double mutants. Genetic and biochemical analysis indicated that the continual sporulation of spdA1 strains was associated with a lower specific activity of pyruvate carboxylase, which limited the rate of oxaloacetate synthesis from glucose via pyruvate and thereby the supply of compounds depending on the citrate cycle, especially aspartate. Therefore, the mild stringent response caused by the spdA1 mutation seems to result from a partial deficiency of aspartyl-tRNA which may exert its sporulation-initiating effect during a limited time interval in each growth cycle. A mutant blocked in fumarase activity (citG) behaved similarly. It grew only slowly in glucose medium because much of the limiting oxaloacetate was wasted for the excretion of fumarate. The mutant produced little aspartate and sporulated at a high frequency in glucose medium, even in the presence of glutamate; the sporulation was again prevented by aspartate or malate or by introduction of the relA marker into the strain.

A Mutant of Bacillus subtilis Secreting a DNAase Inhibitor During Sporulation

Under sporulation conditions, Bacillus subtilis mutant SE63 secreted into the medium an inhibitor of the extracellular DNAase that is specifically associated with stage II to III of sporulation. The inhibitor was a heat-labile protein with a molecular weight of 18000–20000. A cell-bound, presumably intracellular, inhibitor with the same properties was found in extracts of wild-type cells and of the mutant. The mechanisms by which the mutation, designated din, might cause the secretion of a protein that is normally intracellular are discussed. The mutation was mapped by transduction with phage PBS1 and it lies between met and fru. It was also introduced into a variety of sporulation mutants including some blocked at the earliest known stages of the process. In all of these it caused secretion of the inhibitor. It is concluded that the secretion is therefore not integrally associated with sporulation but is, instead, part of the response of the cells to the nutritional step-down conditions in which spore formation is induced.

Penicillin-binding proteins in Bacillus subtilis mutants

The penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) from mutants of Bacillus subtilis were studied and related to morphology. In a previously described cloxacillin-resistant mutant of B. subtilis strain Porton, PBP 2a had an altered mobility by sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis and was present in increased amounts. In addition, PBPs 1a and 1b were missing in this mutant. The only morphological change seen was a decrease in size of about 15%. Studies of two Triton-resistant morphological mutants of B. subtilis 168, Tr49 (small diameter) and Tr61 (helical form), revealed no change in the number of PBPs compared with that of the parent strain. However, PBPs 1a and 1b had an altered mobility in the mutant Tr49.

Intergenic suppressors of temperature-sensitive sporulation in Bacillus subtilis are allele non-specific.

The Bacillus subtilis mutant cal1 carries a non-reverting mutation in ribosomal protein L17 (r-protein L17) that causes both resistance to the antibiotic chalcomycin (Calr) and temperature-sensitive sporulation (Spots). Second-site suppressor (rev) mutations that relieve the Spots phenotype have been isolated from cal1. Three suppressor mutations - rev4, rev10, rev11 - each increase the sporulation frequency of cal1 at the non-permissive temperature from 3% to 95% of the wild-type level. The cal1 rev strains remain resistant to chalcomycin and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis analysis indicates that they contain the same altered r-protein L17 as the original cal1 strain and no additional altered r-proteins. The three rev mutations have been mapped at a single locus between narA and sacA on the B. subtilis chromosome and recombination indexes for the rev mutations indicate that they are tightly linked to one another. Antibiotic resistance Spots mutations that cause temperature-sensitive sporulation have previously been isolated in RNA polymerase, in the 30S and 50S subunits of the ribosome, and in elongation factor G. The rev4, 10, and 11 suppressor mutations are non-specific in their action in that they restore significant levels of sporulation at the non-permissive temperature in all of the Spots strains that we have tested. This result suggests that Spots mutations in components of the B. subtilis transcription and translation systems share a common molecular basis for their sporulation-defective phenotypes.

Sporulation in Bacillus subtilis is independent of membrane fatty acid composition.

Growth and sporulation of a Bacillus subtilis mutant deficient in branched fatty acid synthesis (gene symbol bfmB) were examined. The mutant, which produces an acyl-coenzyme A:acyl carrier protein transacylase with reduced affinity for branched fatty acid primers, could grow in media containing any one of a wide range of low-molecular-weight fatty acids having branched, cyclic, saturated, or unsaturated carbon chains. The fatty acid composition of cellular lipids depended on the compound used to support growth. Cultures of the bfmB mutant grown in the presence of 3-methylcrotonate contained an unusually high fraction (73%) of straight-chain fatty acids in the cellular lipids. The mutant sporulated with any one of the precursors of branched fatty acids in the medium; isolated spores contained mainly this branched fatty acid and only 10% or less straight-chain fatty acids regardless of the straight-chain fatty acid content of vegetative cells. Exceptional were spores grown in the presence of cyclobutane-carboxylic acid, which contained 28% straight-chain fatty acids. The branched fatty acid composition of spores could be modified greatly by changing the supply of precursors in the medium.

Isolation and properties of a Bacillus subtilis mutant unable to produce fructose-bisphosphatase.

A Bacillus subtilis mutation (gene symbol fdpA1), producing a deficiency of D-fructose-1,6-bisphosphate 1-phosphohydrolase (EC 3.1.3.11, fructose-bisphosphatase), was isolated and genetically purified. An fdpA1-containing mutant did not produce cross-reacting material. It grew on any carbon source that allowed growth of the standard strain except myo-inositol and D-gluconate. Because the mutant could grow on D-fructose, glycerol, or L-malate as the sole carbon source, B. subtilis can produce fructose-6-phosphate and the derived cell wall precursors from these carbon sources in the absence of fructose-bisphosphatase. In other words, during gluconeogenesis B. subtilis must be able to bypass this reaction. Fructose-bisphosphatase is also not needed for the sporulation of B., subtilis. The fdpA1 mutation has the pleiotropic consequence that mutants carrying it cannot produce inositol dehydrogenase (EC 1.1.1.18) and gluconate kinase (EC 2.7.1.12) under conditions that normally induce these enzymes.

44] Riboflavin synthetase from Eremothecium ashbyii and a salvage pathway of the by-product in the enzyme reaction

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses riboflavin synthetase obtained from Erernothecium ashbyii and a salvage pathway of the by-product in the enzyme reaction. In the pathway of riboflavin biosynthesis, purine with the exception of C-8 is incorporated into the isoalloxazine ring of riboflavin. Studies, with a guanine analog, 8-azaguanine and labeled purines in Eremothecium ashbyii, have revealed that the guanosine nucleotides, guanosine triphosphate (GTP) is the most immediate nucleotide precursor of riboflavin. An intermediate positioned after GTP in the biosynthetic pathway is believed to be 4-ribitylamino-2,5-diamino-6-hydroxypyrimidine, isolated from riboflavin-deficient mutants of yeast. Another intermediate, the nearest precursor to 6,7-dimethyl-8-ribityllumazine, was isolated from E. ashbyii and the mutants of yeast and Bacillus subtilis , and was identified as 4-ribitylamino-5-amino-2,6-dihydroxypyrimidine that reacts with the 4-carbon compound to form the lumazine. The pyrimidine is structurally identical to the by-product in the riboflavin synthetase reaction, in which 2 mol of 6,7-dimethyl-8-ribityllumazine are consumed to form 1 mol of riboflavin and 1 mol of the by-product. The by-product was expected to be reutilized for the in vivo synthesis of riboflavin through the supplementation of the suitable 4-carbon compound to form 6,7-dimethyl-8-ribityllumazine. The experiments, with the riboflavin synthetase from E. ashbyii and a 4-carbon compound, diacetyl, present supporting evidence for the possibility.

Exoprotease production by sporogenous and asporogenous mycobacillin non-producer mutants of Bacillus subtilis.

Mycobacillin non-producers, whether sporogenous or asporogenous, possess less exoprotease, but effective exoprotease producers are not always good mycobacillin yielders. There might exist a minimum level of exoprotease formation for elaboration of mycobacillin.

DNA-damaging and mutagenic effects of 1,2 dimethylhydrazine on Bacillus Subtilis repair-deficient mutants

Mutagenic, DNA-damaging, and in vivo alteration of DNA have been demonstrated for 1,2-dimethylhydrazine (DMH), a potent inducer of adenocarcinomas of the large intestine and colon of rats. These activities are pH-dependent, with 6.5 giving optimum response. There was no requirement for metabolic activation with rat-liver S9 mix when the appropriate Bacillus subtilis mutant strains were used. The Rec − strains recA8 and mc-1 were greater than 300-fold more sensitive to the DNA-damaging activity of DMH than was their isogenic wild-type parent. The DNA isolated from DMH-treated mc-1 had altered spectroscopic characteristics, and gave a greatly reduced transformation efficiency. Treatment of B. subtilis strain TKJ6321 with DMH at pH 6.5 induced His +, Met + mutations in substantial numbers at low concentrations of this chemical. The use of B. subtilis mutants in these studies has therefore made it possible to demonstrate mutagenic and DNA-damaging activity in bacteria for this potent carcinogenic chemical.

Genetic instability of sporulation-associated characters in a Bacillus subtilis mutant: analysis of the segregation pattern and genetic studies.

A Bacillus subtilis mutant which formed dark-brown 'medusa' (M) colonies was obtained. It sporulated at a high frequency, overproduced extracellular protease during sporulation and possessed a high genetic instability with a complex segregation pattern. Segregation was maintained after repeated re-isolation of single M colonies. The major wild-type-like class of segregants (B) was stable, sporulated normally and produced normal amounts of protease. Occasionally segregants were obtained which produced extremely high amounts of protease, sporulated poorly, formed transparent colonies and were either highly unstable (TD) or stable (TDst). Rarely B(D) (stable, normal sporulation and protease overproduction) and W and T (both stable and asporogenous) segregants were produced. The M phenotype was transmitted as a single factor by transformation but not by transduction. The results of transduction experiments suggest the presence of two mutations, ScoC and ScoD. It is proposed that this new segregating system in B. subtilis may result from tandem duplication of part of the bacterial chromosome.

Genetic instability of sporulation-associated characters in a Bacillus subtilis mutant: relationship between sporulation, segregation and the synthesis of extracellular enzymes (kinetic studies).

In the genetically unstable, protease-overproducing 'medusa (M) strains of Bacillus subtilis, segregation of stable, wild-type-like B cells occurred mainly during sporulation. After the end of the exponential growth phase, a small fraction of M cells sporulated quickly and formed M spores, while the majority of the cells, after a 'critical period', gave rise to B segregants which sporulated after a delay. Segregation occurred without cell division. Delayed sporulation, segregation and protease overproduction are related. Similar but more complex results were obtained with the highly unstable TD strains. Sporulation and the kinetics of protease overproduction were also followed in several stable segregants. Depending on the strain, either the rate of protease production or both the rate and time course were affected. The results are interpreted in terms of sequential activation and de-activation of sporulation genes. The production of the alkaline and the neutral proteases was, in general, under common genetic control. In some strains alpha-amylase was also overproduced.