Mutation of Bacillus subtilis causing hyperproduction of alpha-amylase and protease, and its synergistic effect

Lethal and mutagenic effects of different LET radiations on Bacillus subtilis spores

New, useful microorganism resources have been generated by ionizing radiation breeding technology. However, the mutagenic effects of ionizing radiation on microorganisms have not been systematically clarified. For a deeper understanding and characterization of ionizing radiation-induced mutations in microorganisms, we investigated the lethal effects of seven different linear energy transfer (LET) radiations based on the survival fraction (SF) and whole-genome sequencing analysis of the mutagenic effects of a dose resulting in an SF of around 1% in Bacillus subtilis spores. Consequently, the lower LET radiations (gamma [surface LET: 0.2 keV/µm] and 4He2+ [24 keV/µm]) showed low lethality and high mutation frequency (MF), resulting in the major induction of single-base substitutions. Whereas higher LET radiations (12C5+ [156 keV/µm] and 12C6+ [179 keV/µm]) showed high lethality and low MF, resulting in the preferential induction of deletion mutations. In addition, 12C6+ (111) ion beams likely possess characteristics of both low- and high-LET radiations simultaneously. A decrease in the relative biological effectiveness and an evaluation of the inactivation cross section indicated that 20Ne8+ (468 keV/µm) and 40Ar13+ (2214 keV/µm) ion beams had overkill effects. In conclusion, in the mutation breeding of microorganisms, it should be possible to regulate the proportions, types, and frequencies of induced mutations by selecting an ionizing radiation of an appropriate LET in accordance with the intended purpose.

Concomitant production of two proteases and alpha-amylase by a novel strain of Bacillus subtilis in a microprocessor controlled bioreactor

We describe the simultaneous production of Bacillus subtilis based proteases and alpha amylase using a computer controlled laboratory scale 7.5 L batch bioreactor. The present strain is the first to be reported that concomitantly produces these two industrially important enzymes. The growth and sporulation of Bacillus subtilis was monitored and maximum production of alkaline protease and alpha amylase was found to coincide with maximum sporulation. Two types of proteases were detected in the fermentation broth; a neutral and an alkaline protease most active in a pH range of 7.0–8.0 and 8.0–10, respectively. Maximum production of proteases was observed at an incubation temperature of 37°C while that of alpha amylase was observed at 40°C. The optimum aeration and agitation levels for protease production were 0.6 L/L/min and 200rpm, respectively, and for alpha amylase were 0.6 L/L/min and 150 rpm. The kinetic parameters Y_p/x and qp were also found to be significant at the given fermentation conditions.

Improvement of alpha-amylase production by modulation of ribosomal component protein S12 in Bacillus subtilis 168

The capacity of ribosomal modification to improve antibiotic production by Streptomyces spp. has already been demonstrated. Here we show that introduction of mutations that produce streptomycin resistance (str) also enhances alpha-amylase (and protease) production by a strain of Bacillus subtilis as estimated by measuring the enzyme activity. The str mutations are point mutations within rpsL, the gene encoding the ribosomal protein S12. In vivo as well as in vitro poly(U)-directed cell-free translation systems showed that among the various rpsL mutations K56R (which corresponds to position 42 in E. coli) was particularly effective at enhancing alpha-amylase production. Cells harboring the K56R mutant ribosome exhibited enhanced translational activity during the stationary phase of cell growth. In addition, the K56R mutant ribosome exhibited increased 70S complex stability in the presence of low Mg2+ concentrations. We therefore conclude that the observed increase in protein synthesis activity by the K56R mutant ribosome reflects increased stability of the 70S complex and is responsible for the increase in alpha-amylase production seen in the affected strain.

Autolysis of Lactococcus lactis is influenced by proteolysis

The autolysin AcmA of Lactococcus lactis was shown to be degraded by the extracellular lactococcal proteinase PrtP. Autolysis, as evidenced by reduction in optical density of a stationary-phase culture and concomitant release of intracellular proteins, was greatly reduced when L. lactis MG1363 cells expressed the cell wall-anchored lactococcal proteinase PrtP of the PI-type caseinolytic specificity (PI). On the other hand, lactococcal strains that did not produce the proteinase showed a high level of autolysis, which was also observed when the cells produced the secreted form of PI or a cell wall-anchored proteinase with PIII-type specificity. Autolysis was also increased when MG1363 expressed the cell wall-anchored hybrid PI/PIII-type proteinase PIac. Zymographic analysis of AcmA activity during stationary phase showed that AcmA was quickly degraded by PI and much more slowly by PrtP proteinases with PIII-type and intermediate specificities. Autolysis of L. lactis by AcmA was influenced by the specificity, amount, and location of the lactococcal proteinase. No autolysis was observed when the various proteinases were expressed in an L. lactis acmA deletion mutant, indicating that PrtP itself did not cause lysis of cells. The chain length of a strain was significantly shortened when the strain expressed a cell wall-anchored active proteinase.

Bacillus subtilis and its relatives: molecular biological and industrial workhorses

The non-pathogenic bacterium Bacillus subtilis, since its first reported genetic transformation in 1959, has become a model system for the study of many aspects of the biochemistry, genetics and physiology of Gram-positive bacteria, and particularly of sporulation and associated metabolism. Extensive knowledge of the molecular biology of B. subtilis has led to the recent development of this bacterium as a host for the industrial production of heterologous proteins. Although difficulties have been encountered, these are being systematically addressed and overcome.

Studies of sigma D-dependent functions in Bacillus subtilis

Gene expression in Bacillus subtilis can be controlled by alternative forms of RNA polymerase programmed by distinct sigma factors. One such factor, sigma D (sigma 28), is expressed during vegetative growth and has been implicated in the transcription of a regulon of genes expressed during exponential growth and the early stationary phase. We have studied several functions related to flagellar synthesis and chemotaxis in B. subtilis strains in which sigma D is missing or is present at reduced levels. Previous studies showed that a null mutant, which contains a disrupted copy of the sigma D structural gene (sigD), fails to synthesize flagellin and grows as long filaments. We now show that these defects are accompanied by the lack of synthesis of the methyl-accepting chemotaxis proteins and a substantial decrease in two autolysin activities implicated in cell separation. A strain containing an insertion upstream of the sigD gene that reduces the level of sigma D protein grew as short chains and was flagellated but was impaired in chemotaxis and/or motility. This reduced level of sigma D expression suggests that the sigD gene may be part of an operon. A strain containing an insertion downstream of the sigD gene expressed nearly wild-type levels of sigma D protein but was also impaired in chemotaxis and/or motility, suggesting that genes downstream of sigD may also be involved in these functions. Genetic experiments demonstrate that sigD is allelic to the flaB locus, which was initially isolated as a locus affecting flagellin expression (G. F. Grant and M. I. Simon, J. Bacteriol. 99:116-124, 1969).

Microbial amylolytic enzymes

Starch-degrading, amylolytic enzymes are widely distributed among microbes. Several activities are required to hydrolyze starch to its glucose units. These enzymes include alpha-amylase, beta-amylase, glucoamylase, alpha-glucosidase, pullulan-degrading enzymes, exoacting enzymes yielding alpha-type endproducts, and cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase. Properties of these enzymes vary and are somewhat linked to the environmental circumstances of the producing organisms. Features of the enzymes, their action patterns, physicochemical properties, occurrence, genetics, and results obtained from cloning of the genes are described. Among all the amylolytic enzymes, the genetics of alpha-amylase in Bacillus subtilis are best known. Alpha-Amylase production in B. subtilis is regulated by several genetic elements, many of which have synergistic effects. Genes encoding enzymes from all the amylolytic enzyme groups dealt with here have been cloned, and the sequences have been found to contain some highly conserved regions thought to be essential for their action and/or structure. Glucoamylase appears usually in several forms, which seem to be the results of a variety of mechanisms, including heterogeneous glycosylation, limited proteolysis, multiple modes of mRNA splicing, and the presence of several structural genes.

Cloning and characterization of Bacillus subtilis iep, which has positive and negative effects on production of extracellular proteases

We have isolated a DNA fragment from Bacillus subtilis 168 which, when present in a high-copy plasmid, inhibited production of extracellular alkaline and neutral proteases. The gene responsible for this activity was referred to as iep. The open reading frame of iep was found to be incomplete in the cloned DNA fragment. When the intact iep gene was reconstructed after the missing part of the iep gene had been cloned, it showed an enhancing effect on the production of the extracellular proteases. The open reading frame encodes a polypeptide of 229 amino acids with a molecular weight of ca. 25,866. Deletion of two amino acids from the N-terminal half of the putative iep protein resulted in dual effects, i.e., a decrease in the inhibitory activity shown by the incomplete iep gene and a slight increase in the enhancing activity shown by the complete iep gene. These results show that the iep gene product is a bifunctional protein, containing inhibitory and enhancing activities for the exoprotease production in the N-terminal and C-terminal regions, respectively. It was found by genetic and functional analyses that iep lies very close to sacU.

Instability of protease production in a rel+/rel- -pair of Bacillus licheniformis and associated morphological and physiological characteristics

A naturally occurring relaxed/protease-producing (A-type) versus stringent/not protease-producing (B-type) pair of an industrial Bacillus licheniformis has been characterized; either of the two types can convert into the other. Both types can sporulate, grow anaerobically, grow at 56 degrees C and reduce nitrate; morphologically, they can easily be distinguished by cell- and colony-shape. They differ in the ability to use 12 substrates, as determined in API-tests. The two types are remarkably different in their content of extrachromosomal elements (A-type: 2; B-type: 4); furthermore, they differ in their rel-status (A-type: relaxed; B-type: stringent). We propose that the differences in the ability of the two types to use different substrates probably are due to integration/extrusion of the extrachromosomal elements in and out of the chromosome, distorting or restoring a number of genes, together with induction of certain catabolic genes that are under control of the rel-system.

Formation of some extracellular enzymes during the exponential growth of Bacillus subtilis

The formation of the exoenzymes, neutral and alkaline proteinase as well as alpha-amylase of Bacillus subtilis, is characterized by the same time course. The exoenzyme formation starts in the exponential phase of growth by an excess of C and N sources. We assume that carbon metabolism of pyruvate is responsible for the exoenzyme formation during this growth phase. The proteinase formation at the transient and/or stationary phase of growth is related to amino acid limitation.

prtR enhances the mRNA level of the Bacillus subtilis extracellular proteases

Studies were performed on the prtR gene which enhances the production of the Bacillus subtilis extracellular proteases and levansucrase, but not the alpha-amylase, RNase, and alkaline phosphatase. To investigate the mode of action of prtR, the Escherichia coli bla gene was placed under the control of two promoters. One was the promoter of the alkaline protease gene (aprE), and the other was the promoter of B. subtilis dihydrofolate reductase gene (dfrA). Expression of the bla gene was enhanced by prtR only when the apr promoter was used. From these results, it was concluded that the apr promoter or its vicinity was the target of prtR and that prtR does not affect the process after transcription. The mRNA levels of aprE and nprE (the neutral protease gene) were significantly increased by prtR, but the half-life of the aprE mRNA was not affected. These results show that the prtR gene product enhances protease production by increasing the rate of transcription initiation.

Characterization of the sacQ genes from Bacillus licheniformis and Bacillus subtilis

The sacQ gene from Bacillus licheniformis was cloned and expressed in Bacillus subtilis. Deletion analysis shows that it encodes a 46-amino-acid polypeptide homologous to the B. subtilis sacQ gene product. The polypeptide, when it is overexpressed, activates the expression of a number of target genes in B. subtilis, all encoding secreted enzymes: alkaline protease, levansucrase, beta-glucanase(s), xylanase, and alpha-amylase. The maximum stimulations measured for alkaline protease and levansucrase were by a factor of 70 and 50, respectively, when the sacQ gene from B. licheniformis was present on a multicopy plasmid in B. subtilis. The sacQ genes from B. subtilis and B. licheniformis, cloned in the same multicopy plasmid, were compared under the same conditions. The sacQ gene from B. licheniformis was more efficient than the sacQ gene from B. subtilis in producing the hypersecretion phenotype. The sacQ structural genes from B. subtilis and B. licheniformis were placed under the control of the same inducible promoter. Hypersecretion was specifically obtained under conditions of full induction of the promoter. The target site of levansucrase regulation by sacQ was identified as a 440-base-pair fragment located in the 5' noncoding region of sacB, suggesting transcriptional control.

Molecular cloning and nucleotide sequence of a DNA fragment from Bacillus natto that enhances production of extracellular proteases and levansucrase in Bacillus subtilis

A DNA fragment from Bacillus natto IFO3936 has been cloned which enhances the production of both extracellular alkaline and neutral proteases in Bacillus subtilis. The DNA sequence analysis around the gene responsible for the hyperproduction, prtR, revealed one open reading frame (comprising 60 amino acid residues) which was bounded by potential transcriptional and translational regulatory signals in its preceding and following regions. This open reading frame was not homologous to the published sequences of the structural genes of the two proteases. The calculated molecular weight (7,109) of the polypeptide predicted from the DNA sequence is much smaller than those of the two proteases, indicating that the gene product is distinct from those enzymes. In-frame fusion between the N-terminal region of the coding sequence and the lacZ gene of Escherichia coli demonstrated that the coding region was indeed translated in vivo. By deletion analysis it was suggested that prtR was the structural gene for the 60-amino-acid polypeptide. Cells carrying a prtR plasmid secreted both proteases 40 to 400 times more than the cells carrying the vector alone. Furthermore, it was found that prtR also enhanced the production of levansucrase by 1 or 2 orders of magnitude. There was no difference, however, in the amount of the other extracellular enzymes such as alpha-amylase, RNase, and alkaline phosphatase. These results indicate that prtR is specific for the hyperproduction of the proteases and levansucrase.

Isolation and characterization of nonspreading mutants of the gliding bacterium Cytophaga johnsonae

Three approaches were taken to isolate a total of 153 nonspreading mutants derived from our laboratory strain of Cytophaga johnsonae, UW101, or from its auxotrophic derivative, UW10538. Characterization of 109 of these mutants led to their placement in five general categories: (i) motile, nonspreading (MNS) mutants whose cells are motile to various degrees but whose colonies fail to spread on agar gels under any conditions of incubation; (ii) conditional nonspreading (CNS) mutants with motile cells whose colonies require more moisture to spread on agar gels than do those of wild-type cells; (iii) filamentous conditional motility (FCM) mutants whose cells grow as nonmotile filaments or as motile cells with wild-type morphology, depending on conditions of incubation; (iv) short, tumbling, nonspreading (STN) mutants with short cells that tumble constantly; and (v) truly nonmotile (TNM) mutants whose cells never move and whose colonies never spread under any conditions tested. All TNM mutants exhibited a remarkable pleiotropy not seen in the other four classes of mutants: all were resistant to 39 phages to which wild-type cells are sensitive, and all were unable to digest chitin, which is digested by wild-type cells. The correlation between ability to move and phage sensitivity was strengthened further by showing that 150 additional TNM mutants derived from UW101 and 43 TNM mutants derived from 29 independent isolates of C. johnsonae were resistant to all phages to which their parents were sensitive. Furthermore, motile revertants of TNM mutants became phage sensitive, and temperature-sensitive mutants were motile and phage sensitive at 25 degrees C and nonmotile and phage resistant at 32 degrees C. Evidence supports the conclusion that any mutation rendering cells truly nonmotile invariably alters cell surface-associated properties such as phage sensitivity and chitin digestion merely as a consequence of changing a moving cell surface to a static surface.

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.

Nucleotide sequence of the promoter and NH2-terminal signal peptide region of Bacillus subtilis alpha-amylase gene cloned in pUB110

The nucleotide sequence of the promotor and NH2-terminal signal peptide region of the alpha-amylase gene derived from the alpha-amylase hyperproducing strain B. subtilis NA64 was determined. DNA sequences of the NH2-terminal region of the mature alpha-amylase, 41 amino acid residues of the signal peptide, a Shine-Dalgarno sequence (AGGAG), a potential RNA polymerase recognition site (TTGAAA), and a potential Pribnow box (AAGTAA) were identified. The DNA sequence was quite different from that of the alpha-amylase gene of B. amyloliquefaciens.

Extracellular proteases modify cell wall turnover in Bacillus subtilis

The rate of turnover of peptidoglycan in exponentially growing cultures of Bacillus subtilis was observed to be sensitive to extracellular protease. In protease-deficient mutants the rates of cell wall turnover were greater than that of wild-type strain 168, whereas hyperprotease-producing strains exhibited decreased rates of peptidoglycan turnover. The rate of peptidogylcan turnover in a protease-deficient strain was decreased when the mutant was grown in the presence of a hyperprotease-producing strain. The addition of phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, a serine protease inhibitor, to cultures of hyperprotease-producing strains increased their rates of cell wall turnover. Isolated cell walls of all protease mutants contained autolysin levels equal to or greater than that of wild-type strain 168. The presence of filaments, or cells with incomplete septa, was observed in hyperprotease-producing strains or when a protease-deficient strain was grown in the presence of subtilisin. The results suggest that the turnover of cell walls in B. subtilis may be regulated by extracellular proteases.

Regulation of cholera toxin production in Vibrio cholerae: genetic analysis of phenotypic instability in hypertoxinogenic mutants

Hypertoxinogenic mutants of Vibrio cholerae frequently possess mutations in a chromosomal locus called htx. Spontaneously occurring phenotypic revertants were shown to fall into three classes. One class retained the htx mutation and therefore represented a second-site mutation(s) capable of suppressing the Htx phenotype, whereas the other two classes represented strains that had lost the htx mutation. One of the latter two classes appeared to be composed of true genetic revertants, whereas the third class consisted of clones that had replaced htx with a new mutation conferring a hypotoxinogenic phenotype. Several rare N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine-induced hypotoxinogenic mutants selected by rif comutation also map in the same region as htx. This new locus, which mediates the hypotoxinogenic phenotype in these trains and potentially in some hypertoxinogenic phenotypic revertants, has been designated ltx. htx and ltx appear to be regulatory loci, since mutations in both sites alter the level of cholera toxin A and B subunit production coordinately. The genetic data also support a model in which htx- and ltx- are allelic states of the same Tox regulatory locus.

Extracellular and membrane-bound proteases from Bacillus subtilis

Bacillus subtilis YY88 synthesizes increased amounts of extracellular and membrane-bound proteases. More than 99% of the extracellular protease activity is accounted for by an alkaline serine protease and a neutral metalloprotease. An esterase having low protease activity accounts for less than 1% of the secreted protease. These enzymes were purified to homogeneity. Molecular weights of approximately 28,500 and 39,500 were determined for the alkaline and neutral proteases, respectively. The esterase had a molecular weight of approximately 35,000. Amino-terminal amino acid sequences were determined, and the actions of a number of inhibitors were examined. Membrane vesicles contained bound forms of alkaline and neutral proteases and a group of previously undetected proteases (M proteases). Membrane-bound proteases were extracted with Triton X-100. Membrane-bound alkaline and neutral proteases were indistinguishable from the extracellular enzymes by the criteria of molecular weight, immunoprecipitation, and sensitivity to inhibitors. The M protease fraction accounted for approximately 7% of the total activity in Triton X-100 extracts of membrane vesicles. The M protease fraction was partially fractionated into four species (M1 through M4) by ion-exchange chromatography. Immunoprecipitation and sensitivity to inhibitors distinguished membrane-bound alkaline and neutral proteases from M proteases. In contrast to alkaline and neutral proteases, proteases M2 and M3 exhibited exopeptidase activity.

Increased production of extracellular enzymes by the synergistic effect of genes introduced into Bacillus subtilis by stepwise transformation

The amyR3, amyS, papS1, tmr, and papM118 mutations each stimulate alpha-amylase production two- to sevenfold above the level in a wild-type strain of Bacillus subtilis. A strain which presumably has all five of these mutations produced 250-fold more alpha-amylase.

The production of alpha-amylase in batch and chemostat culture by Bacillus stearothermophilus

The production of alpha-amylase (alpha-1,4-glucan 4-glucanohydrolase; EC 3.2.1.1) by a strain of Bacillus stearothermophilus isolated from leaf litter was investigated in a tryptone-maltose medium at 55 degrees C in batch and chemostat culture. Amylase production was growth-limited and restricted to the exponential phase in batch culture. The enzyme yield was reduced by 40% when the culture pH was maintained at pH 7.2. Amylase production in chemostat culture was influenced by the growth rate throughout the dilution rate range used.

Thermosensitive, extracellular neutral proteases in Bacillus subtilis: isolation, characterization, and genetics

Two mutants (NT02 and NT17), each producing a thermosensitive neutral protease, were isolated from Bacillus subtilis NP58, a transformant which acquired the property of hyperproduction of neutral protease from Bacillus natto IAM 1212. The neutral proteases produced by these two mutants were partially purified and enzymologically characterized. The two mutant neutral proteases displayed increased thermosensitivity as well as altered pH optima compared with those of the NP58 enzyme. In addition, the hydrolytic activity of the thermosensitive neutral proteases on synthetic peptide substrates was found to be extremely different. These results strongly suggest that the site of mutation in each of the temperature-sensitive strains is located within the structural gene for neutral protease (nprE). Previous studies indicated the existence of a specific regulator gene (nprR) in addition to the structural gene for neutral protease. Phage PBS1-mediated transduction and deoxyribonucleic acid-mediated transformation studies with the parental and mutant strains suggest that the chromosomal order of these genes is recA-pyrA-nprR-nprE-fruB-metC. Moreover, the results of these genetic analyses imply that the mutations to thermosensitivity are located proximate to each other within the nprE gene.

The effect of nalidixic acid, rifampicin and chloramphenicol on the synthesis of phospholipase C in Bacillus cereus

The effect of nalidixic acid, rifampicin and chloramphenicol on the synthesis of phospholipase C (EC 3.1.4.3) has been studied in washed Bacillus cereus cells resuspended in nutrient broth. In the absence of inhibitors, the synthesis showed a biphasic pattern. No synthesis of release of enzyme was found in the presence of chloramphenicol. When rifampicin was added, phospholipase C synthesis continued for 10-15 min. Nalidixic acid, at concentrations which inhibited DNA synthesis completely, permitted the synthesis of phospholipase C at the same rate and for a similar length of time as rifampicin.

Inhibition of the synthesis of phospholipase C in Bacillus cereus by a component of the growth medium

A low molecular weight compound, probably of peptide nature, present in the Beef Heart Extract component of the growth medium, inhibits post-transcriptionally the biosynthesis of phospholipase C by a strain of Bacillus cereus. The compound also prevents the increase of proteolytic activity in the growth medium, thus suggesting that the synthesis of another enzyme, an extracellular protease, is also inhibited, and that the inhibitory compound may therefore have a more general effect on exoenzyme synthesis in this strain of Bacillus cereus.

Mapping of mutations affecting synthesis of exocellular enzymes in Bacillus subtilis. Identity of the sacUh, amyB and pap mutations

The sacUh, amyB and pap mutations are identical with respect to their pleiotropic phenotype and their genetic location. Strains bearing these mutations overproduce several exocellular enzymes: alpha amylase, lavansucrase and proteases, they are poorly or not at all transformable and most of them are devoid of flagella. These mutations are tightly linked to the sacU- mutations by transformation and therefore lie between the hisA1 and gtaB290 markers. It is possible that the sacUh, amyB and pap mutations on one hand and the sacU- mutations on the other are two different classes of alterations of the same regulatory gene controlling the synthesis of some exocellular enzymes and several other cellular functions. Furthermore an amy- mutation, leading to the lack of alpha-amylase activity, was mapped between the lin2 and aroI906 markers which are not linked to the sacU locus.

Autolytic enzyme-deficient mutants of Bacillus subtilis 168

Mutants of Bacillus subtilis strain 168 have been isolated that are at least 90 to 95% deficient in the autolytic enzymes N-acetylmuramyl-L-alanine amidase and endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase. These mutants grow at normal rates as very long chains of unseparated cells. The length of the chains is directly related to the growth rates. They are nonmotile and have no flagella, but otherwise appear to have normal cell morphology. Their walls are fully sysceptible to enzymes formed by the wild type and have the same chemical composition as the latter. Cell wall preparations from the mutants lyse at about 10% of the rate of those from the isogenic wild type, with the correspondingly small liberation of both the amino groups of alanine at pH 8.0 and of reducing groups at pH 5.6. Likewise, Microcococcus luteus walls at pH 5.6 and B. subtilis walls at pH 8 are lysed only very slowly by LiCl extracts made from the mutants as compared with rates obtained with wild-type extracts. Thus, the activity of both autolytic enzymes in the mutants is depressed. The frequencies of transformation, the isolation of revertants, and observations with a temperature-sensitive mutant all point to the likelihood that the pleiotropic, phenotypic properties of the strains are due to a single mutation. The mutants did not produce more protease or amylase than did the wild type. They sporulate and the spores germinate normally. The addition of antibiotics to exponentially growing cultures prevents wall synthesis but leads to less lysis than is obtained with the wild type. The bacteriophage PBSX can be induced in the mutants by treatment with mitomycin C.

Pleiotropic phenomena in autolytic enzyme(s) content, flagellation, and simultaneous hyperproduction of extracellular alpha-amylase and protease in a Bacillus subtilis mutant

A mutant of Bacillus subtilis 6160 that had been isolated by its hyperproduction of alpha-amylase and protease lacked flagella and motility, and its content of autolytic enzyme(s) was reduced to one-third to one-fourth that of the parent. These phenotypic differences were completely co-transferred by the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) of the mutant when five DNA recipient strains of B. subtilis were transformed. The revertants, isolated by motility with a frequency of approximately 10(-7), recovered a normal level of autolytic activity and showed reduced productivity of alpha-amylase and protease. This point mutation allowed normal flagellin synthesis, spore formation, and rate of growth. The comparison of cell envelope of the mutant with that of the parent indicated that there was no significant difference except loss of flagella. Therefore the association at the cell surface of a group of extracellular proteins consisting of alpha-amylase, proteases, flagellin, and autolytic enzymes(s) seem to be coordinately regulated by the gene or seem to be affected coordinately by certain undetected alterations of the cell envelope.