短小芽孢杆菌作为芽孢杆菌属基因工程受体菌的研究

以质粒pUB110 DNA转化B. pumilus 289原生质体,转化频率为10~(-3)—10~(-9)与B.tubtilis 168系统相当;但B.pumilus 289原生质体的再生频率(0.3—12.0％)略低于B.subtilis 168(1.53—24.16％);在无选择压力条件下质粒pUB110在B.pumilus 289中经过45个世代周期,自发丢失率小于3％,同于B.subtilis 168系统。外源基因在B.pumilus 289中经25个世代周期丢失率低于5％,而在B.subtilis 168系统中则高达24％;外源基因的表达水平亦高于B.subtilis 168系统。因此,B.pumilus 289是一个值得进一步开发的基因工程受体系统。     

短小芽孢杆菌的遗传转导

短小芽孢杆菌(Bacillus pumilus)噬菌体PP5在碱性蛋白酶生产菌珠B.pumilus 289中能进行普遍性转导。PP5对于B.pumilus 289的营养标记的转导频率为10~(-6)转导子/PFU。对于B.pumilus 1037和B.pumilus 289之间的链霉素抗性标记的转导频率为10~(-4)至10~(-7)转导子/PFU。从而建立了一个新的B.pumilus遗传转导系统。     

短小芽孢杆菌的遗传转化——Ⅰ.感受态菌株的筛选

通过诱变剂处理,从原来不出现感受态的短小芽孢杆菌(Dacillus pumilus)289中筛选获得一株具有感受态的菌株——B.pumilus N 246。感受态培养和转化操作与枯草杆菌(B.subtilis)基本相同。     

黄地老虎颗粒体病毒DNA片段在枯草芽孢杆菌中的克隆和启动氯霉素抗性基因表达

黄地老虎颗粒体病毒(Agrotis segetum granulosis virus简称AsGv)DNA和pPL603质粒DNA,用限制性核酸内切酶EcoR I酶切后,再用T4连接酶连接,转化枯草芽孢杆菌BRl51感受态细胞。然后在loμg／m1氯霉素的sPBY选择平皿上筛选,得到了抗氯霉素的转化子。经过琼脂糖凝胶电泳检测,转化于中的重组质粒比原载体pPL603质粒分子量大。由于重组质粒上的抗性表达水平可达250μg／m1氯霉素,比pPL603质粒抗性表达水平(5μg／m1)提高50倍。所以重组质粒携带了有启动作用的DNA片段。启动功能片段的分子量,经琼脂糖凝胶电泳测定约为O．9kb。除进行DNA—DNA分子杂交确证外,并用重组质粒pAsGVPl5进行了第二次转化、抗性水平测定和分子量分析。     

嗜热脂肪芽孢杆菌中耐热蛋白酶基因的克隆

用鸟枪法把嗜热脂肪芽孢杆菌313一l(供体菌)染色体上的蛋白酶基因克隆到质粒pPL603上,并在枯草杆菌中得到表达。此基因位于6．6kb的EcoRI酶切片段上,带有重组质粒的枯草杆菌所产生的蛋白酶活性比供体菌株约提高30倍左右。该酶的最适反应温度为75℃,最适pH为7．0左右,是一个中性蛋白酶,在80℃作用30min后仍保留85％以上的酶活。     

芽孢杆菌高表达质粒的构建及其性质的研究

以B.subtilis质粒pUB110为基础构建了双标记(Km²、cm²),多酶切点接头的表达质粒pNQl22和pNQll3系列。pNQl22的分子量为3．2×10⁶道尔顿,其对cm抗性水平和cat-86基因表达水平与质粒pPL600相同,pNQll3系列质粒分子量为3．1—4．1×10。道尔顿。其对cm抗性水平高于质粒pPL600,它们所携带的cat-86基因的表达水平无论在非诱导和诱导条件下部比pPL600高约5倍。无分解代谢阻遏现象,传代稳定,因而可以用作Bacillus属基因工程的载体。     

谷氨酸棒状杆菌启动子在枯草芽孢杆菌中的克隆及其序列分析

利用枯草芽孢杆菌启动子探针质粒pPL 603为载体,从谷氨酸棒状杆菌1014—6染色体DNA上克隆到一个有较强启动功能的DNA片段。生物素标记的DNA—DNA分子杂交实验证明该片段确实来自谷氨酸棒状杆菌1014—6染色体DNA。在绘制该片段限制酶酶切图谱的基础上,经另一个启动子探针质粒pPL 703的亚克隆,将其启动子功能区定位在Bamm酶切片段中。对后者进行了核苷酸序列分析,发现它具有棒状杆菌类启动子的－35区和－10医序列。     

体内遗传标记成团肠杆菌固氮质粒pEA9

用卡那霉素抗性（Kan^r)基因对成团肠杆菌固氮质粒pEA9进行活体遗传标记。将来自质粒pEA9的3.0kb片段(nif ENX)克隆到pBR322载体中,再将卡那霉素抗性(Kan^r)基因插入到3.0kb的片段中,构建成供体质粒pST5。将该质粒转化到含有待标记质粒pEA9的E.a.339菌株中,然后在AP培养基中消除供体质粒,筛选得到40个失去了pST5并保持卡那霉素抗性的克隆,分析表明它们不是质粒pEA9和pST5的共整合体,而是卡那霉素抗性基因通过两个质粒在nifENX区域内的DNA间的同源重组整合到了质粒pEA9上。     

转座子Tn5-Mob对菜豆根瘤菌共生基因的诱变、转移和初步定位

转座子Tn5-Mob在质粒RP4-4配合下能诱动(Mobilization)菜豆根瘤菌RCR3622内源质粒的诱动转移。在种间根瘤菌杂交过程中,二个巨型质粒的转移频率均大于10~(-3);分子量约为285kb的psym3622是带有结瘤(nod)和产黑素(mel)基因的共生质粒(Symbiotic plasmid);这二个基因的最大距离不超过70kb左右。另一个分子量约为135kb的质粒在试验中为不具结瘤功能的隐蔽质粒。将psym3622共生质粒导入不结瘤(Nod-)的豌豆根瘤菌菌株B151,能够使后者在菜豆植物上表达结瘤的特性,形成无效根瘤。将psym3622共生质粒导入不结瘤的菜豆根瘤菌菌株JI8400,能够在菜豆植物上形成正常发育的有效根瘤。     

嗜热脂肪芽孢杆菌启动子克隆载体pFDC4和表达型载体pFDC11的构建

以pPL703的衍生质粒pPGV5为载体,从嗜热脂肪芽孢杆菌CU21总DNA的Sau 3A酶切产物中得到1个0.54kb的启动子片段,它能促进载体上的无启动子的cat-86基因在嗜热脂肪芽孢杆菌及枯草芽孢杆菌中表达。这一片段以正、反向插入pPGV5载体,都能使重组质粒转化CU21原生质体的效率提高10~(?)至10(?)倍。Southern杂交实验表明,这一启动子片段与Imanaka等报道的来自CU21中的隐蔽性质粒pBS02的能提高转化效率的1.6kb Eco RI片段是同源的。利用所得到的0.54kb Sau 3A片段构建了新的启动子克隆载体pFDC4和表达型载体pFDC11,二者都能以很高的效率转化CU21原生质体。     

Bacillus and relatives in foodborne illness

Species of Bacillus and related genera have long been troublesome to food producers on account of their resistant endospores. These organisms have undergone huge taxonomic changes in the last 30 years, with numbers of genera and species now standing at 56 and over 545, respectively. Despite this expansion, relatively few new species have been isolated from infections, few are associated with food and no important new agents of foodborne illness have been reported. What has changed is our knowledge of the established agents. Bacillus cereus is well known as a cause of food poisoning, and much more is now understood about its toxins and their involvement in infections and intoxications. Also, although B. licheniformis, B. subtilis and B. pumilus have occasionally been isolated from cases of food‐associated illness, their roles were usually uncertain. Much more is now known about the toxins that strains of these species may produce, so that their significances in such episodes are clearer; however, it is still unclear why such cases are so rarely reported. Another important development is the use of aerobic endosporeformers as probiotics, as the potentials of such organisms to cause illness or to be sources of antibiotic resistance need to be borne in mind.     

Phenotypic and genotypic comparisons of 23 strains from the Bacillus cereus complex for a selection of known and putative B. thuringiensis virulence factors

Sixteen Bacillus thuringiensis, four Bacillus cereus and three Bacillus anthracis isolates were screened for a selection of known and putative B. thuringiensis virulence factors. PCR primers were designed to detect genes for phosphatidylcholine specific phospholipase C, phosphatidylinositol specific phospholipase C, immune inhibitor A, vegetative insecticidal protein 3A, a protein proposed to be involved in capsule synthesis, a newly identified Ser/Thr kinase homologue and enterotoxin entS. Motility, the presence of flagella, haemolysis, chitinase and lecithinase production were also evaluated. The widely varying profiles of the 23 strains from the complex provide a pool of different genotypes that can help to identify factors involved in pathogenicity.     

The Bacillus cereus bceT enterotoxin sequence reappraised

Bacillus cereus is a known opportunistic human pathogen belonging to the B. cereus group. Establishment of the pathogenesis most likely involves several gene products. One of these gene products, a single gene component named bceT, has been cloned and described from B. cereus B-4ac [Agata et al., Microbiology 141 (1995) 983-988]. However, our sequences of the bceT region from 16 B. cereus group strains showed inconsistency with the published bceT sequence. Only part of the bceT sequence had homology to our sequences. This initiated a more thorough investigation of the bceT sequence. Restriction site search and database searches intimated that the cloned bceT was created by an incidental joining of four DNA fragments during ligation. One of these fragments had 93% homology to an open reading frame (ORF 101) located within the pathogenic island of the Bacillus anthracis pXO1 virulence plasmid. We suggest that the reported enterotoxic activity of the original cloned bceT construct could be due to either the fusion gene or the fragment with homology to ORF 101 in pXO1.     

Production of heat-stable exotoxin by Bacillus thuringiensis and related bacteria

Heat-stable exotoxin production by 740 strains of Bacillus thuringiensis and related bacteria was investigated using the housefly, Musca domestica, from the following viewpoints: (1) the relation-ship between B. thuringiensis flagellar (H) serotypes and exotoxin production and (2) the exotoxin production by Bacillus species other than B. thuringiensis. Of 437 isolates belonging to 11 serotypes of B. thuringiensis which had been confirmed to produce parasporal inclusions, 35 isolates belonging to serotypes 1, 3a:3b, 4a:4c, and 10 produced heat-stable exotoxin. Exotoxin was not detected in the isolates of serotypes 3a, 4a:4b, 5a:5b, 5a:5c, 6, 7, and 8a:8b. No heat-stable exotoxin was demonstrated in 28 acrystalliferous isolates which possessed H antigens of B. thuringiensis serotypes 1, 3a, 4a:4b, 4a:4c, 5a:5c, 6, 7, 10, 11a:11c, and 12. A total of 270 B. cereus isolates which did not possess B. thuringiensis H antigen were examined and three isolates were found to produce heat-stable exotoxin. No heat-stable exotoxin was produced by B. subtilis (two strains), B. natto (one strain), and B. megaterium (two strains). These results indicate that the heat-stable exotoxin production in B. thuringiensis is a strain-specific property rather than a serotype(subspecies)-specific property.     

The autolytic phenotype of the Bacillus cereus group

AIM: To determine the autolytic phenotype of five species in the Bacillus cereus group. METHODS AND RESULTS: The autolytic rate of 96 strains belonging to five species in the B. cereus group was examined under starvation conditions at pH 6, 6.5 and 8.5 in different buffers. The autolytic rate was strain-dependent with a wide variability at pH 6, but higher and more uniform at pH 6.5. At pH 8.5, and respect to the extent of autolysis at pH 6.5, it was relatively low for most of the strains with the lowest values between 13 and 52% in Bacillus mycoides and Bacillus pseudomycoides. Peptidoglycan hydrolase patterns evaluated by renaturing sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis using cells of Bacillus thuringiensis ssp. tolworthi HD125 as an indicator, revealed complex profiles with lytic bands of about 90, 63, 46, 41, 38, 32, 28 and 25 kDa in B. cereus, B. thuringiensis and Bacillus weihenstephanensis. Bacillus mycoides and B. pseudomycoides had simpler profiles with lytic bands of 63, 46 and 38 kDa. Changes in the autolytic pattern were observed for cells harvested at the stationary phase of growth (72 h) showing an increase in the intensity of the 25 kDa band in the case of B. cereus, B. thuringiensis and B. weihenstephanensis, while no changes were observed for B. mycoides. Using Micrococcus lysodeicticus and Listeria monocytogenes as indicators lytic activity was retained by proteins of 63, 46, 38, 32 and 25 kDa and a new one of about 20 kDa in B. mycoides. Growth in the different media did not affect the autolytic pattern. NaCl abolished the activity of all the peptidoglycan hydrolases except for those of B. mycoides and B. weihenstephanensis. Lytic activity was retained in the presence of MgCl(2), MnCl(2) and EDTA and increased at basic pH. CONCLUSIONS: Bacillus cereus/B. thuringiensis/B. weihenstephanensis showed a high extent of autolysis around neutral pH, even though they presented relatively complex autolysin profiles at alkaline pH. Bacillus mycoides/B. pseudomycoides had a higher extent of autolysis at acidic pH and a simpler autolysin pattern. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: Information on the autolytic phenotype expand the phenotypic characterization of the different species in the B. cereus group.     

一株产低温纤维素酶细菌的初步分析

从农田、农产品果实表面获得的多株产纤维素酶细菌中,筛选到一株产低温纤维素酶活性较高的菌株T34,使用PCR方法克隆到长度为1419bp的16SrDNA序列。提交到美国国立生物技术信息中心NCBI基因库中,序列号是：FJ796222。利用生物信息学方法分析该序列,将该菌分类为Bacillus sp．。分析其产酶条件,发现其在20℃时产酶活性最高。     

Identity of hemolysins produced by Bacillus thuringiensis and Bacillus cereus

A hemolysin (Bt-hemolysin) produced by Bacillus thuringiensis var. kurstaki HD-1 producing crystalline toxin(s) was purified by successive treatments of ammonium sulfate (45-65%) and column chromatography using DEAE-cellulose, Sephadex G-75 and KB-002 (a hydroxyapatite column for fast protein liquid chromatography). A hemolysin (Bc-hemolysin) produced by B. cereus HG-6A was also purified by the same procedure. The purified Bt-hemolysin and Bc-hemolysin, both of which are thiol-activated hemolysins, were biologically, physicochemically and immunologically identical. These findings provide further evidence of the similarity of B. thuringiensis, which is being used as a biological insecticide, to B. cereus, a toxigenic organism of food poisoning.     

Development of an asporogenic Bacillus licheniformis for the production of keratinase

AIMS: Bacillus licheniformis PWD-1 is a keratin-degrading, spore-forming bacterium isolated from a poultry waste digester. A sporulation-deficient mutant of B. licheniformis PWD-1, named B. licheniformis WBG, was developed and characterized. METHODS AND RESULTS: The mutation was generated using the splicing by overlap extension PCR method (Gene SOEing) to create 256 bp deletion in the spoIIAC gene, which encodes an essential sporulation-specific sigma factor. In vivo gene replacement was accomplished with the use of a temperature-sensitive plasmid that is able to integrate and excise the nucleotide fragment 256 bp from the B. licheniformis chromosome. PCR analysis and DNA sequencing confirmed the spoIIAC gene deletion. Heat-treatment assays and electron microscopy verified the absence of spores. CONCLUSIONS: This asporogenic strain is able to express normal levels of keratinase when compared with its wild-type host. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: In this study, a method of constructing a stable sporulation-defective strain was developed. It can be potentially useful as a tool to generate asporogenic strains of Bacillus that retain their industrial capabilities for production of exoproteases and other exozymes.     

普鲁兰酶基因在解淀粉芽孢杆菌BF7658菌株中的分泌表达

根据文献报道的核苷酸序列合成Bacillus deramificans普鲁兰酶成熟肽编码基因BdP。将BdP基因插入芽孢杆菌分泌表达载体pUC980信号肽编码区下游,获得重组质粒pUC980-BdP,重组质粒转化中温α-淀粉酶生产菌解淀粉芽孢杆菌BF7658菌株。摇瓶发酵实验表明,重组转化子发酵液有明显普鲁兰酶酶活,约48h酶活达到最高水平,为2．8ASPU／mL。酶学性质分析表明,重组酶最适作用温度约为60℃,最适反应pH为5．0,60℃保温3h仍保存50％的活性。重组酶性质适合淀粉糖化工艺的要求。