A mutant of Bacillus subtilis 168 lacking aconitase (EC 4.2.1.3) was found to be blocked at stage 0 or I of sporulation. Although adenosine triphosphate levels, which normally decrease in tricarboxylic acid cycle mutants at the completion of exponential growth, could be maintained at higher levels by feeding metabolizable carbon sources, this did not permit the cells to progress further into th...

We investigated whether the yield of the B vitamin folic acid could be elevated in Bacillus subtilis. Strategies for increasing the folic acid yield were investigated by employing computer-aided flux analysis and mutation. Controlling the activity of the enzyme pyruvate kinase by placing it under inducible control was one strategy devised to elevate yield while insuring that a rapid growth rate...

The biochemical response of the microorganisms Lipomyces starkeyi (Lod & Rij), Escherichia coli K-12 W3110, Bacillus subtilis 168 (Marburg) and Pseudomonas sp. strain TTO1 to the presence of growth-inhibitory concentrations of paraquat was studied. Paraquat was added to each culture at a concentration previously determined to reduce the culture growth rate by up to 50%. The changes in activity ...

As part of the pksX gene cluster of Bacillus subtilis strain 168, pksS has been preliminarily annotated as a cytochrome P450 homolog that hydroxylates the polyketide product of this cluster, which was recently shown to be involved in the biosynthesis of bacillaene and dihydrobacillaene. Here we report that there is a frame-shift error in the reported sequence for pksS, and that we have successf...