The Bacillus subtilis xylanase A was subjected to site-directed mutagenesis, aimed at changing the interaction with Triticum aestivum xylanase inhibitor, the only wheat endogenous proteinaceous xylanase inhibitor interacting with this xylanase. The published structure of Bacillus circulans XynA was used to target amino acids surrounding the active site cleft of B.subtilis XynA for mutation. Twe...

The thermophilic microbiota of solid-waste composting, with major emphasis on Bacillus spp., was examined with Trypticase soy broth (BBL Microbiology Systems) with 2% agar as the initial plating medium. Five 4.5-liter laboratory units at 49 to 69 degrees C were fed a mixture of dried table scraps and shredded newspaper. The composting plants treating refuse at Altoona, Pa., and refuse-sludge at...

Suppression of soilborne diseases by biocontrol agents involves complex interactions among biocontrol agents and the pathogen and between these microorganisms and the plant. In general, these interactions are not well characterized. In this work, we studied (i) the diversity among strains of fluorescent Pseudomonas spp., Bacillus spp., and Paenibacillus sp. for their sensitivity to fusaric acid...

Eight 2-deoxystreptamine-negative (DOS-) mutants were isolated from various strains of Bacillus circulans, normally producing butirosin, xylostasin and ribostamycin. These mutants were classified into two groups (converter and secretor) by the simple method of cosynthesis using agar plate culture. One of the cosynthetic pairs, strain S-11, an intermediate of DOS biosynthesis, S-11-P, was isolat...

In general, spores of B. cereus, B. megaterium, B. Sphaericus and B. subtilis strains germinated uniformly within a short time of incubation in a germination medium. In contrast, spores of B, circulans, B. brevis, B. laterosporus, B. pulvifaciens, B. polymyxa, B. pumilus, B. licheniformis and B. coagulans strains were usually slow and/or uneven germinators under the same conditions of incubatio...

The methods suggested for the identification of species of the genus Bacillus in the invaluable monographs of Smith et al. (1946, 1952) have been applied to a collection of named cultures, and also have been utilized for the classification of approximately 400 strains of these organisms isolated from samples of blood, spinal fluid, surgical tissue, and other human and animal sources, as well as...

The ftsL gene is required for the initiation of cell division in a broad range of bacteria. Bacillus subtilis ftsL encodes a 13-kDa protein with a membrane-spanning domain near its N terminus. The external C-terminal domain has features of an alpha-helical leucine zipper, which is likely to be involved in the heterodimerization with another division protein, DivIC. To determine what residues ar...

A thermostable chitosanase gene from the environmental isolate Bacillus sp. strain CK4, which was identified on the basis of phylogenetic analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence and phenotypic analysis, was cloned, and its complete DNA sequence was determined. The thermostable chitosanase gene was composed of an 822-bp open reading frame which encodes a protein of 242 amino acids and a signal pe...