RNA-binding protein Hfq is a key component of the adaptive responses of many proteobacterial species including Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica and Vibrio cholera. In these organisms, the importance of Hfq largely stems from its participation to regulatory mechanisms involving small non-coding RNAs. In contrast, the function of Hfq in Gram-positive bacteria has remained elusive and somewha...

The set of sensor kinase YycG and response regulator YycF is the only essential two-component system (TCS) in Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus. We have developed a screening method for antibacterial agents that inhibit YycG, the essential histidine kinase (HK). To increase screening sensitivity, a temperature-sensitive yycF mutant (CNM2000) of B. subtilis with super-sensitivity to HK...

This study aimed to characterize the effects of ethanol on the monopolar electrochemical process to remove Bacillus subtilis spores from drinking water. In particular, spores' destruction was tested by applying 20-100 mA current for 15-60 min to B. subtilis spores (10(2)-10(4) CFU/mL density), with stainless steel electrodes. The experimental results showed electrochemical removal of spores in ...

Xylanase A (XynA) is a class G/11 xylanase secreted by Bacillus subtilis. XynA was purified to homogeneity from B. subtilis strain 168 culture supernatants by ethanol precipitation and cation-exchange chromatography. The DNA fragment encoding the XynA together with the BsXA promoter region was amplified by PCR from B. subtilis 168 genomic DNA, and cloned into the plasmid pT7T3 to give the plasm...

We report a previously undescribed quorum-sensing mechanism for triggering multicellularity in Bacillus subtilis. B. subtilis forms communities of cells known as biofilms in response to an unknown signal. We discovered that biofilm formation is stimulated by a variety of small molecules produced by bacteria--including the B. subtilis nonribosomal peptide surfactin--that share the ability to ind...

The deduced product of the Bacillus subtilis ytvP gene is similar to that of ORF13, a gene of unknown function in the Lactococcus lactis histidine biosynthesis operon. A B. subtilis ytvP mutant was auxotrophic for histidine. The only enzyme of the histidine biosynthesis pathway that remained uncharacterized in B. subtilis was histidinol phosphate phosphatase (HolPase), catalyzing the penultimat...

Bacillus subtilis aconitase, encoded by the citB gene, is homologous to the bifunctional eukaryotic protein IRP-1 (iron regulatory protein 1). Like IRP-1, B. subtilis aconitase is both an enzyme and an RNA binding protein. In an attempt to separate the two activities of aconitase, the C-terminal region of the B. subtilis citB gene product was mutagenized. The resulting strain had high catalytic...

DNA damage-inducible (din) genes in Bacillus subtilis are coordinately regulated and together compose a global regulatory network that has been termed the SOS-like or SOB regulon. To elucidate the mechanisms of SOB regulation, operator/promoter regions from three din loci (dinA, dinB, and dinC) of B. subtilis were cloned. Operon fusions constructed with these cloned din promoter regions rendere...

We introduce a manually constructed and curated regulatory network model that describes the current state of knowledge of transcriptional regulation of Bacillus subtilis. The model corresponds to an updated and enlarged version of the regulatory model of central metabolism originally proposed in 2008. We extended the original network to the whole genome by integration of information from DBTBS,...