Bacterium Bacillus subtilis

In the Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis (DNA with low G + C content), three Fur-like proteins have been characterized (Bsat et al., 1998). One, called Fur, regulates mainly iron uptake and siderophore biosynthesis. A second one, called PerR, regulates peroxide stress response genes and acts with manganese as corepressor. A third one, Zur, regulates genes for zinc uptake. The Zur protein found in E. coli shows only 25 % identity to the B. subtilis Zur, while the two Fur proteins have 32 % identical amino acids. 

Kirimura, K. Furuya, T. Nishii, Y., et al., Biodesulfurization of Dibenzothiophene and Its Derivatives Through the Selective Cleavage of Carbon-Sulfur Bonds by a Moderately Thermophilic Bacterium Bacillus Subtilis WU-S2B. Journal of Bioscience and Bioengineering, 2001. 91(3) pp. 262-266. 

We routinely use a mix of five mRNAs that are derived from the lys (ATCC no. 87482), trp (ATCC no. 87485), dap (ATCC no. 87486), thr (ATCC no. 87484), andphe (ATCC no. 87483) clones from the bacterium Bacillus subtilis cloned into a vector that contains a stretch of As. These RNAs are generated by in vitro transcription using a T3 in vitro transcription kit (e.g., MEGAscript from Ambion) of the linearized DNA template with the appropriate restriction enzyme. 

Experiments on board the NASA Long Duration Exposure facility have been performed with spores from the bacterium Bacillus subtilis, allowing them to be exposed to the extreme conditions of space. Low pressures and highly energetic particles are dominant in space and most importantly around the Sun, including an intense UV radiation field. It is the latter that is the most destructive in terms of viability of the spores, and under controlled conditions the extreme UV exposure is four orders of magnitude more likely to kill the cells than when screened. Crucially, however, not all spores were killed. Protection of the spores from the UV field for example within the interior of the meteorite suggests that the spores... 

Bacterial spores have been deliberately taken into space, in particular spores of the bacterium Bacillus subtilis. Up to 70 per cent of the bacterial spores survive in the short term for approximately 10 days of exposure to space vacuum. The chances of survival in space are increased if the spores are embedded in chemical protection such as sugars, or salt crystals, or if they are exposed in thick layers. For example, 30 per cent of B. subtilis spores survived for nearly 6 years in space when embedded in salt crystals and 80 per cent survived in the presence of glucose. Bacillus subtilis spores in Dominican amber have remained viable for several million years. Transport to a friendly environment with a source of energy is all that is required for life to be seeded on this planet or the next. 

Kunst, F. Ogasawara, N, Moszer, I. et al The complete genome sequence of the gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis. Nature, 390, 249-256 (1997)... 

Reserving DNA in Bacterial Endospores Bacterial endospores form when the environment is no longer conducive to active cell metabolism The soil bacterium Bacillus subtilis, for example, begins the process of sporulation when one or more nutrients are depleted. The end product is a... 

F Kunst, N Ogasawara, I Moszer, A Albertini, G Alloni, V Azevedo, M Bertero, P Bessieres, A Bolotin, S Borchert, R Borriss, L Boursier, A Brans, M Braun, S Brignell, S Bron, S Brouillet, C Bruschi, B Caldwell, V Capuano, et al. The complete genome sequence of the gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis. Nature 390 249-256, 1997. 

Figure 3.16 (a) A multicellular filament of the bacterium Bacillus subtilis several millimeters in length and about 200gm thick, (b) Transverse section of the filament with the bacteria used as a biomold (green), the intercellular space (yellow) and the surfactant micelles (red), (c) Detail of the... 

Artificial transformation of Escherichia coli cells will be performed as part of Experiment 21. In this experiment, you will study natural transformation using strains of the bacterium Bacillus subtilis. Natural transformation has been subjected to extensive study by genetic and biochemical analysis. B. subtilis cells are not able to take up DNA and undergo transformation under all growth conditions, but generally develop competence during periods of nutrient limitation (along with other responses such... 

An SCM approach has been used in numerous studies examining metal-bacteria interactions, and these studies should guide future investigations of lichens and fungi. For example, Fein et al. (1997) modelled acid-base titration and metal adsorption data for the Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis using a CCM depiction. The authors... 

Fig. 15.5. Calculated metal sorption curves for Pb, Cu and Cd onto the bacterium Bacillus subtilis, shown as a function of pH versus the concentration of sorbed metal. Curves are calculated based on experimental metal sorption data of Fein et al. (1997), and were computed using the geochemical speciation programme JCHESS. The solution depicted contains 1 g 1 bacteria dry wt (155 m g surface area, 8.0 Cm electrical double layer capacitance), 1 mM dissolved CaC03 and 1 iM dissolved lead, copper and cadmium. Adsorption was calculated using a CCM treatment.

We ll see in Chapter 29 that living organisms use many of the same r tions that chemists use in the laboratory. This is particularly true of i bonyl-group reactions, where nucleophilic addition steps play a critical luic in the biological synthesis of many vital molecules. For example, one of the pathways by which amino acids are made involves nucleophilic addition of an amine to u-keto acids. To choose a specific example, the bacterium Bacillus subtilis synthesizes the amino acid alanine from pyruvic acid,... 

Two new indole nucleosides kahakamides A 256 and B 257 were isolated from the actinomycete Nocardiopsis dassonvillei which is obtained from a shallow water sediment sample collected from the island of Kauai, Hawaii. Compound 256 exhibited anti-microbial activity toward the Gram positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis. 

Leone, L. et al., Modeling the acid-base properties of bacterial surfaces A combined spectroscopic and polcnliotnclric study of the Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis. Environ. Sci. Technol., 41, 6465, 2007. 

In this form of assay, the extract or pure compound is run on a TLC plate, which IS then covered by a medium seeded with the appropriate microorganism. As with direct bioautographic assays, both fungi and bacteria may be investigated. Rahalison et al. (54) have applied this technique for the evaluation of antimicrobial extracts against the yeast Candida albicans and the bacterium Bacillus subtilis. 

Bacitracin is a mixture of similar peptides produced by fermentation of the bacterium Bacillus subtilis. The A-type component predominates. Its mode of action is to inhibit both peptidoglycan biosynthesis at a late stage (probably at the dephosphorylation of the phospholipid carrier step) and disruptions of plasma membrane function. It is predominantly active against Gram-positive microorganisms, and parenteral use is limited to IM injection for infants with pneumonia and empyema caused by staphylococci resistant to other agents. It is rather neuro- and nephrotoxic and, therefore, is used in this manner with caution. Bacitracin also is widely employed topically to prevent infection in minor cuts, scrapes, and burns. 

A B1 host-vector system consists of a host with low viability in natural conditions. The vector must be dependent on the host and incapable of transfer to other cells. Examples of B1 host-vector systems are EKl (based on the bacterium Escherichia coli K12 and a plasmid which cannot conjugate or transfer to other bacteria), SCI (a laboratory-maintained strain of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae as host and a plasmid or minichromosome as vector) and BSl (the bacterium Bacillus subtilis Marburg 168 as host and a plasmid). B2 host-vector systems consist of a host with especially low viability in natural conditions and a vector which depends on the host completely. The most common example is EK2 (a defective strain of E. coli K12 and the well-characterised plasmid pBR322). 

The bibenzyls 4-hydroxy-3 -methoxybibenzyl, 2,4,6-trichloro-3-hydroxybibenzyl, 2, 4-dichloro-3-hydroxylbibenzyl, 2-chloro-3-hydroxybibenzyl, together with bisbibenzyls neomarchantins A 133 and B 134, and marchantin C show antimicrobial activity against the gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis [60, 123, 150]. In addition, 4-hydroxy-3 -methoxybibenzyl is active toward Escherichia coli [150]. 

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