• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.315-318
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• 2005

The effects of inorganic salts and feather concentrations on pretense production by Bacillus megaterium F7-1 were investigated. Pretense production was dependent on the presence of phosphates in the medium. Supplementation of medium with calcium ion slightly increased protease production. The highest protease production was obtained at $1.4\%$ feather. The optimal medium contained $2.0\%$ glucose, $0.8\%$ skim milk, $0.06\%\;K_{2}HPO_{4}\%,\;0.04\%\;KH_{2}PO{4},\;0.06\%\;NaCl,\;0.03\%\;MgCl_{2}\cdot6H_{2}O,\;0.002\%\;CaCl_{2}\cdot2H_{2}O,\;and\;1.4\%$ whole feather. By using this optimized medium, increased production of the protease was achieved compared with the cases of using basal medium.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.110-117
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• 1995

This study was carried out to immunologically characterize Bacillus thuringiensis (B.t) antigens. Protein patterns of ultrasonicated- antigens of B. thuringiensis subspecies using SDS- PAGE revealed marked similarities among all the strains analyzed except for the difference between quantative variations of bands and some protein antigens. The comparison of the protein patterns showed that the protein antigen of 45 kilodalton (kd) was common in 11 strains and that the difference between B. thuringiensis subsp. canadensis and galleriae was noticed in quantative variations of bands despite of ambiguous serogrouping, suggesting a useful method for identification. All strains examined showed similar antigenic patterns in SDS-PAGE, while immunodominant bands differed in antigenic reactivity in western blot using polyclonal antibodies. Polyclonal antibody to B. thuringiensis subsp. thuringiensis and israelensis in indirect immunofluorescence assay reacted with flagella and cell surface antigens. The present study indicates that SDS-PAGE and western blot analysis may be used as tools for differentiation and identification of B. thuringiensis subspecies.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.25 no.6
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• pp.546-551
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• 1997

A bacterium producing the extracellular cellulases was isolated from soil and has been identified as Bacillus sp. The isolate, named Bacillus sp. 79-23, was shown to be very similar to B. subtilis on the basis of its biochemical properties. The carboxymethyl cellulase (CMCase) of culture supernatant was most active at 60$\circ$C and pH 6.0, and retained 90% of its maximum activity at pH 7.0. The additional carbon sources affected the CMCase productivity than nitrogen sources in the culture medium. The carbon sources including wheat bran, rice straw, maltose and glucose increased the enzyme productivty. Especially, the maximum CMCase production was 5.2 units/ml in LB medium supplemented with 3% (w/v) wheat bran, which was 13-folds more than that in LB medium. It was found that the enzyme production was in association with the growth of Bacillius sp. 79-23. But, whean bran did not affect the growth of isolate, suggesting that increasement of CMCase production was owing to the induction of CMCase biosynthesis by wheat bran. In addition, both water-soluble and insoluble components of wheat bran was involved in induction of CMCase biosynthesis.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.671-677
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• 1995

An extracellular enzyme showing lytic activity on E. coli peptidoglycan had been isolated from Bacillus sp. BL-29. The lytic enzyme was purified to homogeneity by ion-exchange chromatography and gel filtration, with a recovery of 5%. The enzyme was monomeric and had an estimated molecular weight of 31,000 Da. The mode of action of the purified enzyme was also investigated. When the purified lytic enzyme was incubated with cell wall peptidoglycan, N-terminal amino groups were released without the release of reducing groups. The N-terminal amino acid released was identified as dinitrophenylalanine (DNP-alanine) by analysis of terminal amino acid by dinitrophenylation method. This result suggests that the lytic enzyme should be a kind of N-acetylmura-myl-L-alanine amidase.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.81-83
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• 1989

The flagella antigenic variation of nine Bacillus thuringiensis serovar kurstaki temperature-sensitive mutants grown at the permissive temperature (3$0^{\circ}C$) was detected by a serological agglutination between H-antigen and antiserum. The flagella antigens were injected to rabbits to prepared their antisera, and then their homologous and heterologous titers of the antisera were measured. The homologous titers were ranged from 1:6,400 to 1:12,800, but the heterologous titers were very low. The H-antigen of the wild type strain was not agglutinated to 4 heterologous antisera, ts-U23 not to 7, ts-U3l not 5, ts-U32 not to 4, ts-U33 not to 7, ts-U7l not to 4, ts-U73 not to 6, ts-U74 not to 6, ts-U91 not to 4 and ts-U603 not to 4 antisera.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.405-407
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• 2009

A Bacillus subtilis mannanase gene was subcloned into an Escherichia coli- Corynebacterium lactofermentum shuttle vector pHE83, and the resultant plasmid pHE83M was transferred into an endogenous plasmid-free strain of C. lactofermentum. Mannanase produced by the recombinant C. lactofermentum (pHE83M) was secreted extracellulary at the level of 86%, and the remaining activity of mannanase was detected in the cell-free extract. The maximum mannanase productivity of the recombinant strain reached 8.1 unit/mL in the culture filtrate of LB medium. According to the zymogram of mannanase on SDS-PAGE, it was found that the mannanase produced by the recombinant C. lactofermentum could be maintained stably with a migration identical to the mannanase produced by the parental strain, B. subtilis WL-3.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.454-458
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• 1997

To develop a yellow pigment for a food-additive, a strain producing a water-soluble yellow pigment was isolated from phylloplane of tree leaf. The strain PY123 was identified a Bacillus sp. based on morphological and biochemical characterization such as a bacillus form, mortility, spore formation, Gram positive, and catalase production. The pigment production of the strain PY123 was increased about 3 times in patato broth containing 1% sucrose and 0.1 mM CoCl$_{2}$ than in only potato broth after incubation at 30$circ$C, for 2 days. When 0.1 mM CoCl$_{2}$, was added in potato broth containing 1% sucrose at late log phase during incubation of the strain PY123, cell growth was not inhibited, and the period at maximal pigment production of the strain PY123 was about 12hrs faster than in potato broth containing 1% sucrose and 0.1 mM CoCl$_{2}$, simultaniously.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.370-377
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• 1999

Thermo-tolerant bacterium producing the xylanase was isolated from soil and identified as Bacillus pumilus. This strain, named Bacillus pumilus TX703, was able to grow ad produce xylanase at the culture temperature of 5$0^{\circ}C$. The maximum xylanase production was obtained when 1%(w/v) birchwood xylan and 1% (w/v) soytone were used as carbon source and nitrogen source, respectively. The biosynthesis of xylanase was under the catabolite repression induced by glucose in the culture medium, and it was completely inhibited in the presence of 0.2% (w/v) glucose. The maximum activity of xylanase was observed from pH8.0 to 9.0 and from 50 to 6$0^{\circ}C$ and the enzyme was highly heat-stable, whose activity remained was over 50% at 8$0^{\circ}C$, and was quite stable from pH5.0 to 10.0.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.197-202
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• 1995

The conditions for the $\beta$-fructofuranosidase production from alkalophilic, thermophilic Bacillus sp. TA-11 were investigated. The maximal enzyme production was obtained when the strain was cultured at 50$\circ$C for 36 hrs with batch culture in the optimal medium containing 1.0% sucrose, 0.6% yeast extract, 0.1% each of KH$_{2}$PO$_{4}$, K$_{2}$HP0$_{4}$, NaH$_{2}$PO$_{4}$, and initial pH 9.5, and the final enzyme activity under the above condition was 102 units per ml of cell free extract.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.243-248
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• 1995

Agrochemicals for the plant-disease control are criticized severely for causing environmental pollution and residual problems, and consequently microbial disease control agents are expected to be safer and more economical for sustainable agriculture. Treatment of biological control agents to seed requires the use of effective delivery systems that allow full expression of the benefical qualities of the bioprotectant. For the activation and establishment of bioprotectant around the plant seed which are able protect the seeds and seedlings from pathogen attack, the optimal liquid coating formulation was obtained using 2% sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (binder), 20% sesame dregs (solid particulate material), and dried spore of Bacillus subtilis YBL-7 (bioprotectants, 10 mg/g of seed). Suppressive of root rot was demonstrated in pot trials with coated kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) seeds. Coated seeds with B. subtilis YBL-7 spore in F. solani-infested soil reduced disease incidence by 85% to 90% after 30 days.