The aim of this study was to characterize the bioflocculants secreted from Bacillus subtilis (B. subtilis), Aspergillus oryzae (A. oryzae) and Rhizopus oligosporus (R. oligosporus). For precise investigation of bioflocculants, fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy was performed, and pH and temperature stability, and decolorization efficiency were evaluated. In addition, the effects of ...

Maari is a spontaneously alkaline fermented food condiment made from baobab tree seeds. Due to the spontaneous nature of maari fermentations growth of the opportunistic human pathogen Bacillus cereus is occasionally observed. Bacillus subtilis strains are important for alkaline seed fermentations because of their enzymatic activities contributing to desirable texture, flavor and pH development....

in the detergent industry. In this study, the extracellular alkaline serine protease gene, aprE, from Bacillusclausii was amplified by PCR and further cloned and expressed in B. subtilis WB600 using the pWB980 expression vector. Protease activity of the recombinant B. subtilis WB600 harboring the plasmid pWB980/aprEreached up to 1020 U/ml, approximately 3-folds higher than the nativ...

In response to iron deprivation, Bacillus subtilis secretes a catecholic siderophore, 2,3-dihydroxybenzoyl glycine, which is similar to the precursor of the Escherichia coli siderophore enterobactin. We isolated two sets of B. subtilis DNA sequences that complemented the mutations of several E. coli siderophore-deficient (ent) mutants with defective enterobactin biosynthesis enzymes. One set co...

Bacillus subtilis is long known to produce poly-γ-glutamic acids (γ-PGA) as one of the major secreted polymeric substances. In B. subtilis, the regulation of γ-PGA production and its physiological role are still unclear. B. subtilis is also capable of forming structurally complex multicellular communities, or biofilms, in which an extracellular matrix consisting of secreted proteins and polysac...

The peptidoglycan precursor, Lipid II, produced in the model Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis differs from Lipid II found in Gram-negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli by a single amidation on the peptide side chain. How this difference affects the cross-linking activity of penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) that assemble peptidoglycan in cells has not been investigated because B....

One of the more natural but less commonly studied forms of colonial bacterial growth is pattern formation. This type of growth is characterized by bacterial populations behaving in an organized manner to generate readily identifiable geometric and predictable morphologies on solid and semi-solid surfaces. In our first attempt to study the molecular basis of pattern formation in Bacillus subtili...

The B. subtilis transcriptional factor ComK regulates a set of genes coding for DNA uptake from the environment and for its integration into the genome. In previous work we showed that Bacillus cereus expressing the B. subtilis ComK protein is able to take up DNA and integrate it into its own genome. To extend our knowledge on the effect of B. subtilis ComK overexpression in B. cereus we first ...

DNA double-strand breaks are particularly deleterious lesions that can lead to genomic instability and cell death. We investigated the SOS response to double-strand breaks in both Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis. In E. coli, double-strand breaks induced by ionizing radiation resulted in SOS induction in virtually every cell. E. coli strains incapable of SOS induction were sensitive to io...

Introduction: Probiotics are defined as live non-pathogenic microorganisms and if administered in adequate amounts, can have beneficial effects on their hosts. This study aimed to isolate Gram-positive bacteria from different sources and to evaluate their probiotic properties. Methods: We obtained five samples from various sources including yogurt, infant feces, cheese, and soil under aseptic m...