Molecular characterization of thirteen gyrA mutations conferring nalidixic acid resistance in Bacillus subtilis

We isolated 607 independent nalidixic acid-resistant mutants from Bacillus subtilis. A 163 by DNA segment from a 5′ portion of the gyrA gene was amplified from the DNA of each mutant strain. After heat denaturation, the product was subjected to gel electrophoresis to detect conformational polymorphism of single-strand DNA (PCR-SSCP analysis). Mobility patterns of the two DNA strands from all the mutant strains examined differed from those of the parental wild-type strains. The patterns were classified into 13 types, and the DNA sequence of each type was determined. A unique sequence alteration was found in mutants belonging to each of the 13 types, defining 13 gyrA alleles. Eight were single base pair substitutions, four were substitutions of two consecutive base pairs, and one was a substitution of three consecutive base pairs. Only three amino acid residues (Ser-84, Ala-85, and Glu-88) were altered in the deduced amino acid sequences of the mutated genes. We conclude that molecular typing based on the PCR-SSCP method is a powerful technique for the exhaustive identification of allelic variants among mutants selected for a phenotypic trait.     

Effect of nalidixic acid on the activation of RNA synthesis in outgrowing spores of Bacillus subtilis

Outgrowth of B. subtilis spores depends on the action of DNA gyrase (comp. Matsuda and Kameyama 1980). Application of nalidixic acid (100 micrograms/ml) to dormant spores of Bacillus subtilis prevents the outgrowth. Application of nalidixic acid (100 micrograms/ml) during the early outgrowth phase (after a 20 min germination period) does not prevent, but only delay spore outgrowth. Germination of spores is not influenced. Nalidixic acid is an effective inhibitor of RNA synthesis in outgrowing spores, whereas vegetative cells are more resistant. Spores can grow out inspite of a remarkably reduced intensity of RNA synthesis. Nalidixic acid particularly inhibits the synthesis of stable RNA, probably that of ribosomal RNA. We suggest that DNA gyrase-catalyzed alterations in DNA structure are involved in the regulation of the gene expressional program of outgrowing B. subtilis spores.     

Bactericidal Effect of ADP and Acetic Acid on Bacillus subtilis

Bacillus subtilis is a ubiquitous soil bacterium used for measuring the β-lysin activity and in other bioassays. We observed a complete bactericidal effect of ADP on B. subtilis at concentrations of 50–100 μM at pH values <5.5, which disappeared at pH values above 6. The effect was also found for acetic acid at concentrations >17.4 μM and similar pH values. ATP, adenosine, and HCl were not bactericidal. We used BCECF-AM, a pH-sensitive probe, and found that the killing of B. subtilis was due to a change in the intracellular pH caused by the passage across the cell membrane of these weak organic acids when incubated with B. subtilis at pH values near the pK. More experiments are needed to determine the biological meaning of these in vitro findings. Received: 14 June 1996 / Accepted: 19 July 1996     

Effect of nalidixic acid on sporulation of catabolite-resistant mutants ofBacillus subtilis

A number ofBacillus subtilis mutants that are able to sporulate in the presence of relatively high concentrations of carbon sources have been isolated in our laboratory. The present study shows that some of the mutants are also able to sporulate in the presence of nalidixic acid (Nal) under the condition where sporulation of wild-type strains is inhibited. Furthermore, it has been found that a Nal-resistant mutant is unable to sporulate normally when Nal (40 μg/ml) or glucose (55 mM) is present. Since the adverse effect of Nal on inducible enzymes is eliminated when bacterial strains carry a Nal-resistance marker, the above result suggests that the effect of this drug on sporulation might be mediated by a unique mechanism.     

Bacillus subtilis deoxyribonucleic acid gyrase

Bacillus subtilis 168 was shown to contain a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) gyrase activity which closely resembled those of the enzymes isolated from Escherichia coli and Micrococcus luteus in its enzymatic requirements, substrate specificity, and sensitivity to several antibiotics. The enzyme was purified from the wild type and nalidixic acid-resistant and novobiocin-resistant mutants of B. subtilis and was functionally characterized in vitro. The genetic loci nalA and novA but not novB were shown to code for portions of the functional gyrase. Enzyme from the antibiotic-resistant mutants was resistant to the drug in vitro. The most striking observation was the remarkable similarity between the B. subtilis enzyme and other DNA gyrases, especially with respect to the oxolinic acid-induced DNA cleavage in the presence of sodium dodecyl sulfate. All of the enzymes appeared to possess the same specificity of cutting sites regardless of the source or type of DNA used. This result implies that gyrase binding to DNA is highly specific.     

Hyaluronic acid production in Bacillus subtilis

The hasA gene from Streptococcus equisimilis, which encodes the enzyme hyaluronan synthase, has been expressed in Bacillus subtilis, resulting in the production of hyaluronic acid (HA) in the 1-MDa range. Artificial operons were assembled and tested, all of which contain the hasA gene along with one or more genes encoding enzymes involved in the synthesis of the UDP-precursor sugars that are required for HA synthesis. It was determined that the production of UDP-glucuronic acid is limiting in B. subtilis and that overexpressing the hasA gene along with the endogenous tuaD gene is sufficient for high-level production of HA. In addition, the B. subtilis-derived material was shown to be secreted and of high quality, comparable to commercially available sources of HA.     

Synthesis of pulcherriminic acid by Bacillus subtilis

The pathway of pulcherriminic acid synthesis in Bacillus subtilis strains AM and AM-L11 (a leucine-requiring auxotroph) was investigated. Determinations of radioactivity in pulcherriminic acid synthesized by cells growing in media containing (14)C-labeled amino acids indicated that B. subtilis produced pulcherriminic acid from l-leucine. The organism utilized the carbon skeletons of two l-leucine molecules to synthesize one molecule of pulcherriminic acid. Similar results were obtained with starved cell suspensions. Growing cells formed significant amounts of pulcherriminic acid only in media including a carbohydrate such as starch. However, carbohydrate carbon was not required for the synthesis of pulcherriminic acid molecules. Data obtained with cell suspensions supported the hypothesis that cyclo-l-leucyl-l-leucyl is an intermediate in pulcherriminic acid biosynthesis and indicated that molecular oxygen is required for the conversion of cyclo-l-leucyl-l-leucyl to pulcherriminic acid. A pathway for the synthesis of pulcherrimin from l-leucine in B. subtilis is proposed.     

Effects of chloramine on Bacillus subtilis deoxyribonucleic acid.

The lesions induced in Bacillus subtilis deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) after treating bacterial cells (in vivo) and bacterial DNA (in vitro) with chloramine were studied biologically and physically. Single-strand breaks and a few double-strand scissions (at higher chloramine doses) accompanied loss of DNA-transforming activity in both kinds of treatments. Chloramine was about three times more efficient in vitro than in vivo in inducing DNA single-strand breaks. DNA was slowly chlorinated; the subsequent efficiency of producing DNA breaks was high. Chlorination of cells also reduced activity of endonucleases in cells; however, chlorinated DNA of both treatments was sensitized to cleavage by endonucleases. The procedure of extracting DNA from cells treated with chloramine induced further DNA degradation. Both treatments introduced a small fraction of alkali-sensitive lesions in DNA. DNA chlorinated in vitro showed further reduction in transforming activity as well as further degradation after incubation at 50 C for 5 h whereas DNA extracted from chloramine-treated cells did not show such a heat sensitivity.     

Amino acid chemoreceptors of Bacillus subtilis.

Specificities of chemoreceptors for the 20 common amino acids, toward which Bacillus subtilis shows chemotaxis, were assessed by competition ("jamming") experiments using a modification of the traditional capillary assay, called the "sensitivity capillary assay." Many amino acids were sensed by at least two chemoreceptors. All the highest affinity chemoreceptors for the amino acids were distinct, except glutamate and aspartate, which may share one chemoreceptor, and tyrosine, for which the data could not be collected due to low solubility. The data suggest the hypothesis that each amino acid-chemoreceptor complex binds to a different signaler (from each amino acid-chemoreceptor complex binds to a different signaler (from which signals travel to the flagella to modify behavior appropriately), and that many of the signalers can also bind other attractant-chemoreceptor complexes as antagonists (no signals to flagella).     

The combined action of N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine and UV light on Bacillus subtilis

The mutagenic interaction between ultraviolet irradiation and the alkylating agent N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine was studied in repair-competent and excision-deficient strains of Bacillus subtilis. Pre-exposure to low doses of MNNG with following treatment by low and intermediate doses of UV light increase the resistance of Bac. subtilis to UV radiation (antagonistic effect). Probably pre-exposition with MNNG leads to induction of enzymes reparation, UV damages being controlled with adaptive response genes.     

Ribosomal ribonucleic acid synthesis in Bacillus subtilis

The mode of biosynthesis of the 16S and 23S ribosomal ribonucleic acids (rRNA) was studied in Bacillus subtilis 168thy(-). Three criteria were used to define the characteristics of the rRNA species: (i) the time required at 37 degrees C to synthesize 16S and 23S rRNA chains de novo in growing cultures; (ii) the degree of reactivity of the 3'-terminal groups of the rRNA molecules with periodate and [carbonyl-(14)C]isonicotinic acid hydrazide; and (iii) the reactivity of the 5'-terminal regions of the rRNA molecules with the bacterial exonuclease purified by Riley (1969). The 16S and 23S chains of B. subtilis were synthesized at rates of 22+/-2 and 21+/-2 nucleotides added/s. The periodate-[(14)C]isonicotinic acid hydrazide and the exonuclease techniques for estimating apparent chain lengths of RNA indicated that the chain length of the 23S rRNA was 1.8 times that of the 16S fraction. The apparent chain lengths of each rRNA species were: 16S rRNA, 1650+/-50 nucleotide residues; 23S rRNA, 3050+/-90 nucleotide residues. It appears that, the 16S and 23S rRNA molecules in B. subtilis are synthesized in the expected manner, by simple polymerization of the final products on independent cistrons.