Rapid Affinity Purification Processes for Cyclodextrin Glycosyltransferase from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacillus</Emphasis><Emphasis Type="Italic">circulans</Emphasis>

Two rapid and easy-to-scale-up methods for the purification of cyclodextrin glycosyltransferase (CGTase) from Bacillus circulans were developed: affinity precipitation with starch and aqueous two-phase partition. The first method, optimised by a factorial design, gave an 80% CGTase adsorption at 11% starch and 1.6% ammonium sulphate, and a 65% recovery after elution with 10 mM α-cyclodextrin. The purification factor was 17. Aqueous two-phase partition yielded a 72% CGTase recovery in a two-step procedure; CGTase was obtained in the bottom phase with a purification factor of 37.     

Chlorine dioxide inactivation of bacterial threat agents

Aims: To evaluate the efficacy of chlorine dioxide (ClO₂) against seven species of bacterial threat (BT) agents in water. Methods and Results: Two strains of Bacillus anthracis spores, Yersinia pestis, Francisella tularensis, Burkholderia pseudomallei, Burkholderia mallei and Brucella species were each inoculated into a ClO₂ solution with an initial concentration of 2·0 (spores only) and 0·25 mg l^?1 (all other bacteria) at pH 7 or 8, 5 or 25°C. At 0·25 mg l^?1 in potable water, six species were inactivated by at least three orders of magnitude within 10 min. Bacillus anthracis spores required up to 7 h at 5°C for the same inactivation with 2·0 mg l^?1 ClO₂. Conclusions: Typical ClO₂ doses used in water treatment facilities would be effective against all bacteria tested except B. anthracis spores that would require up to 7 h with the largest allowable dose of 2 mg l^?1 ClO₂. Other water treatment processes may be required in addition to ClO₂ disinfection for effective spore removal or inactivation. Significance and Impact of Study: The data obtained from this study provide valuable information for water treatment facilities and public health officials in the event that a potable water supply is contaminated with these BT agents.     

不同碳氮源对胶质芽孢杆菌GSY -1生物脱硅的影响

目的:探讨不同碳氮源对胶质芽孢杆菌GSY -1的生物脱硅效果的影响.方法:采用单因素试验并结合方差分析确定影响GSY -1生物脱硅的碳氮源种类及浓度,通过回归实验及响应面分析进一步优化培养条件,然后利用10L发酵罐进行放大实验验证.结果:研究发现,乳糖和尿素对GSY -1生物脱硅的影响均显著,其中尿素10g/L及乳糖13g/L时,培养液中铝硅比(A/S)分别可由2.84提高到5.45和5.42,通过响应面优化实验,确定尿素10.35g/L、乳糖12.60g/L时,菌株GSY -1的脱硅效果最佳,铝硅比由2.84提高到5.67,增幅达99.65%.经10 L发酵罐放大实验,测得浸矿后的铝硅比为5.07,较浸矿前提高78.52%.结论:乳糖和尿素对胶质芽孢杆菌GSY -1脱硅效果影响显著,响应面法可有效用于GSY -1菌株脱硅条件的优化.     

Characterization of feather-degrading bacteria from Brazilian soils

Studies on keratinolytic microorganisms have been mainly related to their biotechnological applications and association with animal pathologies. However, these organisms have an ecological relevance to recycling keratinous residues in nature. This work aimed to select and identify new culturable feather-degrading bacteria isolated from soils of Brazilian Amazon forest and Atlantic forest. Bacteria that were isolated from temperate soils and bacteria from Amazonian basin soil were tested for their capability to grow on feather meal agar (FMA). Proteolytic bacteria were tested for feather degradation and were further identified according to their morphological and biochemical characteristics. Also, molecular identification based on 16S rDNA gene sequencing was carried out. A total of 24 proteolytic and 20 feather-degrading isolates were selected; Most of the isolates were from the Bacillus genus (division Firmicutes), but one Aeromonas, two Serratia (??-Proteobacteria), and one Chryseobacterium (Cytophaga-Flavobacterium group).     

长白山地区不同采集土样方式筛菌效率比较

目的对随机采样和田字格定点采样两种取样方式筛菌效率进行比较分析。方法利用随机采样和定点采样两种不同方式,采集了长白山地区的土样,取来自不同植物根际的土样,制成菌悬液后煮沸,涂布无氮平板以分离固氮芽胞杆菌。对分离的菌株进行菌落16S rDNA PCR,从中筛选鉴别巨大芽胞杆菌。结果定点采集土样分离出无晶体芽胞菌和有晶体芽胞菌分别是261株和76株,随机采集土样分离出无晶体芽胞菌和有晶体芽胞菌分别是279株和94株。经16S rDNA法鉴定分离巨大芽胞杆菌共19株。结论随机采样的取土方式与定点采样的取土方式差异度小,两种采集土样的方式在筛菌效率上并未表现出明显差异。     

Diversity of the growth patterns of Bacillus subtilis colonies on agar plates

Abstract A Bacillus subtilis strain showed a variety of colony growth patterns on agar plates. The bacterium grew to a fractal colony through the diffusion-limited aggregation process, a round colony reminiscent of the Eden model, a colony with a straight and densely branched structure similar to the dence branching, morphology, a colony spreading without any openings, and a colony with concentric rings, on plates with various agar and nutrient concentrations. The microstructures of these colonies were also characteristic and dynamic. The patterns of these bacterial colonies were thought to grow in relation to the diffusion of nutrient in the agar plate.     

Plasmid instability in an industrial strain ofBacillus subtilis grown in chemostat culture

Summary A pUB110-derived plasmid/Bacillus subtilis host combination was segregationally unstable when grown in chemostat culture with complex or minimal medium and under starch, glucose or magnesium limitation. The kinetics of plasmid loss were described in terms of the difference in growth rates between plasmid-containing and plasmid-free cells (d) and the rate at which plasmid-free cells were generated from plasmid-containing cells (R). Loss of plasmid-containing cells from the population was d dominated. Changes in medium composition and the nature of growth limitation caused variations in both d and R. The plasmid was most stable in glucose-limited chemostat cultures with minimal medium and least stable under starch limitation with complex complex medium. R and d were smaller for cultures in complex media than those in minimal media. Limitation by starch induced expression of the plasmid-encoded HT amylase gene and was associated with increased values of R and d. Magnesium limitation in minimal medium caused a significant increase in d and a decrease in R.Abbreviations Cm chloramphenicol - Kan kanamycin - Cm^r cells resistant to chloramphenicol (5 mg L^–1) - Kan^r cells resistant to kanamycin (5 mg L^–1) - Cm^sKan^s cells sensitive to chloramphenicol and kanamycin     

Transformation of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens protoplasts with plasmid DNA

Abstract A method for efficient polyethylene glycol (PEG)-mediated transformation of Bacillus amyloliquefaciens protoplasts with plasmid DNA is described. The best conditions found for protoplast regeneration included using 0.45 M sucrose both during the cultivation of the cells and (as an osmotic stabilizer) during their treatment with lysozyme, whereas 0.25 M sodium-succinate was added to the regeneration plates. Under these conditions about 5–10% of input cells regenerated. The highest transformation frequency with plasmid DNA was obtained with a PEG 6000 concentration of 22.5% (w/v). Transforming B. amyloliquefaciens strains with the plasmid pUB110 isolated from B. amyloliquefaciens resulted in 2–4 · 10⁵ transformants/μg DNA, 100–1 000-times as high as with DNA from Bacillus subtilis , suggesting a restriction barrier between the two species. Transformation of B. amyloliquefaciens with plasmids pC194 or pE194 cop -6 gave poor yields and no restriction barrier could be demonstrated for these plasmids. However, by curing pC194 from one of the transformants, a mutant strain compatible to both the plasmids could be isolated, yielding 2–3·10⁴ transformants/μg DNA. Both laboratory and industrial B. amyloliquefaciens strains could be transformed with the procedure.     

芽孢杆菌dhs-330-021菌粉的制备及稳定性研究

目的:利用喷雾干燥工艺制备芽孢杆菌dhs-330-021菌粉,并研究菌粉的活性及稳定性。方法:以脱脂乳、海藻糖、β-环糊精和谷氨酸钠为保护剂,采用喷雾干燥(条件为:进口温度100℃,出口温度50～60℃,进样速度2～4mL/min)制备芽孢杆菌菌粉,以喷干存活率和菌粉活菌数为指标,选择最佳制备条件。结果:获得喷干保护剂配方为脱脂乳10.0%、海藻糖6.0%、β-环糊精13.0%、谷氨酸钠15.0%,喷干存活率为65.9%,菌粉活菌数为1.38×109CFU/g,存放180 d后菌粉活菌数为1.03×10~9CFU/g。结论:喷雾干燥工艺可以用于芽孢杆菌dhs-330-021菌粉的制备,获得的菌粉稳定性较好。