Abstract
The xylA gene of Bacillus stearothermophilus encoding the major ${\beta}$-xylosidase was previously cloned and sequenced. In the present study we examined the regulation of the cloned xylA gene expression in Bauillus subtilis MW15 carrying the xylA::aprA fusion plasmids. The induction of the fused xylA gene expression remained uninfluenced by any of the carbon sources tested but the gene expression was repressed about 2-3 fold in the presence of glucose. Two CRE-like sequences (CRE-1: nucleotides ＋ 124 to ＋136 and CRE-2: ＋247 to ＋259) were recognized within the reading frame region of the xylA gene. The deletion experiments showed that the CRE-2 sequence had a role in catabolite repression (CR) as a true CRE of the xylA gene, but the CRE-1 had no effect on CR of the xylA gene expression. Surprisingly, the deletion of the CRE- 1 sequence reduced about 2~3 fold of the expression of the xylA fused gene. The repression ratios of the xylA gene expression were estimated to be about 0.4 from the assay of subtilisin activity, and about 0.3 at the level of transcription by determining the amounts of xylA transcripts in B. subtilis. While, the level of CR of the xylA gene was assessed to be about l0-fold in previous work when the relative amounts of the xylA transcripts were measured in B. stearothermophilus.