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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2025

Fast-growing Bacillus sensu lato rhizosphere populations are constrained by antagonistic Pseudomonadota, Actinomycetota and other Bacillus sensu lato.

Copiotrophic Bacillus and related taxa grow rapidly and are commonly isolated from soil. Despite their growth rate, Bacillus sensu lato (BSL) constitute less than one percent of soil bacterial communities, and the nutrient-enriched rhizosphere contains even fewer. Amendment of bulk soil with synthetic root exudate did not lead to increase in Bacillus culturable counts. We hypothesized that BSL populations in soil enriched with growth-supporting carbon are suppressed by various soil microbes. A screen using B. pseudomycoides as tester strain yielded 124 growth inhibiting isolates, aligning by 16S rRNA genes to 3 Alphaproteobacteria, 6 Betaproteobacteria, 5 Gammaproteobacteria, 3 Streptomyces, and 19 Bacillaceae. Most antagonists also suppressed four other BSL, and over 70% of the BSL isolates suppressed each other. The 11 sequenced BSL genomes encoded between 2 and 10 antibiotic biosynthetic gene clusters. Incubation of multiple isolates in artificial soil microcosms resulted in population growth restraint through a high percentage of endospores formed. This indicated that growth suppression by antagonists was due primarily to induction of sporulation. These results support our hypothesis that Bacillus populations in soil enriched with growth-supporting carbon are suppressed by various soil microbes.

Bacillus↗
PubMed1975

Estimates of the porosity of Bacillus licheniformis and Bacillus subtilis cell walls.

The maximum porosity of Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus licheniformis cell walls was estimated by two independent and relatively simple methods. Peptidoglycan was isolated from Bacillus subtilis cell wall preparations and used as an insoluble support for exclusion chromatography of dextrans of known average molecular size. In an alternative approach the leakage of radioactively labelled proteins from Bacillus licheniformis cells incubated in butanol-saline mixtures was measured and their size estimated by exclusion chromatography on Sephadex G-100. Under these conditions the permeability barrier of the cytoplasmic membrane was destroyed with preservation of the structural integrity of the outer cell wall. The apparent exclusion threshold of the cell wall of either organism as determined by these means corresponded to molecules with a diffusional radius of not more than 2.5 nm.

Alanine↗
PubMed1978

On the appearance of Bacillus subtilis intracellular serine protease in the cell membrane and culture medium. Comparison of the enzyme and other Bacillus subtilis serine proteases.

While about 80% of the cell-bound intracellular serine protease of Bacillus subtilis A-50 have been recovered in the soluble fraction upon disruption of cells, the rest of the enzyme was found to be associated with the membrane fraction. Soluble cytoplasmic intracellular serine protease, as well as membrane-bound serine protease liberated by non-ionic detergent treatment, have been isolated in a pure state and shown to be identical. The same protease might also be found extracellularly, due presumably to cell lysis or altered membrane permeability. Intracellular serine protease of Bacillus subtilis A-50 was clearly related to Bacillus subtilis serine proteases W1 and bacillopeptidase F described as extracellular enzymes.

Amino Acids↗
PubMed1978

Purification and characterization of the penicillin-binding protein that is the lethal target of penicillin in Bacillus megaterium and Bacillus licheniformis. Protein exchange and complex stability.

The penicillin-binding protein that is thought to be the lethal target of penicillin in Bacillus megaterium (protein 1) has been purified to greater than 95% homogeneity. The membrane-bound penicillin-binding proteins were solubilized with a non-ionic detergent and partially separated from each other by ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-Sepharose CL-6B. Protein 1 was subsequently purified by covalent affinity chromatography on ampicillin-affinose. Bacillus licheniformis contains an equivalent penicillin-binding protein (protein 1) that can be more readily purified to virtual homogeneity in a one-step procedure. It was separated from the other penicillin-binding proteins by utilizing the observation that in this organism, this particular protein is the only one whose covalent complex with benzylpenicillin subsequently breaks down. Membranes were treated with saturating concentrations of benzylpenicillin followed by the removal of free penicillin and further incubation to allow the complex between benzylpenicillin and protein 1 to break down. The penicillin-binding proteins were then solubilized and applied to a column of ampicillin-affinose to which only protein 1 was bound as the other penicillin-binding proteins still had benzylpenicillin bound to them. Pure protein 1 was eluted from the affinity resin with hydroxylamine. The interaction of benzylpenicillin with purified protein 1 has been studied by separating unbound antibiotic from the benzylpenicillin . protein complex by paper electrophoresis. Benzylpenicillin reacts with the protein rapidly to form a covalent complex and the fully saturated complex has a molar ratio of bound [14C] benzylpenicillin: protein of 0.7:1. The complex breaks down, obeying first-order kinetics, with a half-life of 16 min at 35 degrees C, a value identical to that obtained with the membrane-bound protein. The concentration of benzylpenicillin that results in the formation of 50% of the maximum amount of benzylpenicillin . protein complex is that at which the molar amount of benzylpenicillin present is equal to 50% of the molar amount of penicillin-binding protein, rather than being a measure of any of the kinetic parameters of the binding reaction. This observation may be significant in the interpretation of previous results where the amounts of penicillins needed to kill cells or to inhibit penicillin-sensitive reactions have been expressed as concentrations. The possible importance of the breakdown of beta-lactam . protein complexes in the clinical use of these antibiotics is discussed.

Bacillus↗
PubMed2025

Identification of sporulation genes in Bacillus anthracis highlights similarities and significant differences with Bacillus subtilis.

The molecular basis of endospore formation in the model gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis has been investigated for over half a century. Here, using high throughput and classical genetic approaches, we performed a comparative analysis of sporulation in the human pathogen Bacillus anthracis. A transposon-sequencing screen identified >150 genes required for B. anthracis sporulation. As anticipated, many of the genes that are critical for sporulation in B. subtilis were also required for B. anthracis sporulation. However, we identified >50 genes that are important for sporulation in B. anthracis but not in B. subtilis, and 22 B. anthracis sporulation genes that are absent from the B. subtilis genome. To validate the hits from our screen, we generated an ordered transposon-mutant library using Knockout Sudoku. Cytological analysis of a subset of the canonical sporulation-defective mutants revealed similar but not identical phenotypes in the pathogen compared to the model. We investigated several of the newly identified sporulation genes, with an in-depth analysis of one, ORF 04167, renamed ipdA. Sporulating cells lacking ipdA are blocked in the morphological process of engulfment, generating septal bulges. An AlphaFold-Multimer screen and a classical genetic enrichment revealed that IpdA is a secreted inhibitor of the polysaccharide deacetylase PdaN. Our data support a model in which induction of IpdA at the onset of sporulation inhibits deacetylation of the cell wall peptidoglycan (PG), enabling the sporulation-specific PG hydrolases to catalyze engulfment. Altogether, our studies reveal that B. subtilis is an excellent model for endospore formation in B. anthracis, while underscoring the importance of direct analysis in B. anthracis. The suite of tools that we have generated will catalyze the molecular dissection of sporulation and other cell biological processes in this important human pathogen.

Bacillus anthracis↗
PubMed1978

Demonstration of antibodies to Bacillus piliformis in SPF colonies and experimental transplacental infection by Bacillus piliformis in mice.

Antibodies to Bacillus piliformis were demonstrated by the immunofluorescence antibody technique in sera from mice and rabbits from SPF breeding colonies. Mice in various stages of pregnancy were experimentally infected with Bacillus piliformis and killed 2 to 3 days later. The organism was demonstrated in the uterus, foetal membranes and in the liver of the foetuses. Infection was not limited to any particular stage of pregnancy.

Animals↗
PubMed1977

Dihydrodipicolinate reductases from Bacillus cereus and Bacillus megaterium.

Dyhydrodipicolinate reductases were purified 100-fold from crude extracts of B. cereus and B. megaterium and their properties were compared with those of the reductase from B. subtilis. The molecular weights of the reductases of B. cereus and B. megaterium were fount to be 155,000 and 150,000, respectively. These reductases were shown to be free of flavin, unlike the B. subtilis enzyme, which contains flavin. Both NADPH and NADH acted as coenzymes for these two reductases. NADPH being three or four times more effective than NADH. The Km values for NADPH and dihydrodipicolinate were 8 micrometer and 62 micrometer, respectively, with B. cereus reductase, and 13 micrometer and 59 micrometer with B. megaterium reductase. The pH optima of the enzymes from B. cereus and B. megaterium were pH 7.4 and 7.2, respectively. The reductases were inhibited by dipicolinate noncompetitively with respect to dihydrodipicolinate and the Ki values were 85 micrometer and 140 micrometer, respectively. Lysine and diaminopimelate were not inhibitory. The properties of the reductases from B. cereus and B. megaterium were similar, but they differed considerably from those of the B. subtilis enzyme. However, all three Bacillus reductases were markedly inhibited by dipicolinate, unlike the enzyme from E. coli.

Bacillus cereus↗
PubMed1979

Intracellular serine proteinase of Bacillus subtilis strain Marburg 168. Comparison with the homologous enzyme from Bacillus subtilis strain A-50.

Intracellular serine proteinase was isolated from sporulating cells of Bacillus subtilis Marburg 168 by gramicidin S-Sepharose 4B affinity chromatography. The enzymological characteristics, the amino acid composition and the 19 residues of the N-terminal sequence of the enzyme are reported. The isolated proteinase was closely related to, but not completely identical with, the intracellular serine proteinase of B. subtilis A-50. The divergence between these two intracellular enzymes was less than that between the corresponding extracellular serine proteinases (subtilisins) of types Carlsberg and BPN', produced by these bacterial strains. This may be connected with the more strict selection constraints imposed in intracellular enzymes during evolution.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1977

Presence of a third sucrose hydrolyzing enzyme in Bacillus subtilis: constitutive levanase synthesis by mutants of Bacillus subtilis Marburg 168.

A beta-D-fructofuranosidase -- called levanase -- capable of the hydrolysis of sucrose, inulin and levans has been identified in Bacillus subtilis Marburg. This enzyme can not be detected in strain 168. However, sacL mutations -- mapped on the chromosome of strain 168 between the pheA and aroD reference markers -- lead to constitutive levanase synthesis. This synthesis is repressed by carbon sources such as glucose, glycerol or sucrose.

Bacillus subtilis↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Heterologous transformation: search for an explantation of the high effectiveness of Bacillus subtilis transformation achieved by using Bacillus natto DNA].

A higher efficiency of B. subtilis cells transformation by B. natto DNA is true for every concentration of DNA and is not due to the helping effect known for streptococci, strain Challis. In competition experiments for DNA uptake unlabelled B. natto and B. subtilis DNAs when added to transforming H3-DNA reduced the radioactivity of the samples by a factor of three and two, respectively. A conclusion is drawn that a higher rate of B. natto DNA penetration to the B. subtilis cells results in a higher efficiency of their transformation.

Bacillus subtilis↗