Biological functions of compounds from Bacillus subtilis and its subspecies, Bacillus subtilis natto

Abstract

Natto, fermented food produced by Bacillus subtilis natto (B. subtilis natto), is widely consumed around the world, and its potential health functions are attracting attention. Natto has been reported to have a variety of bioactive compounds such as levan, menaquinone‐7, nattokinase, and others. Such bioactive compounds produced by B. subtilis natto are deeply involved in the function of natto, because they are consequently contained in natto. This review summarizes bioactive compounds and its functions of (1) B. subtilis and its subspecies, (2) B. subtilis natto. Overall, natto is a natural source of bioactive compounds and is expected to be applied to functional foods.

Bacillus subtilis as a host for natural product discovery and engineering of biosynthetic gene clusters

“…1,9,10 Its natural competence for DNA uptake, 11 high secretion capacity, 12 generally recognized as safe (GRAS) status, 13 lack of endotoxins, 14 and remarkable genetic diversity among closely related strains, 15 coupled with its well-described gene expression system 12 are all features that underpin its popularity. 16 In academia, B. subtilis continues to serve as a model organism for studying diverse physiological processes, such as protein secretion, cell motility and division, biolm formation, minimal cell development, secondary metabolite biosynthesis, and molecular interactions with plants and fungi. 13,17 Despite its promising biotechnological potential, the use of B. subtilis for heterologous secondary metabolite production lags behind other microbial hosts, such as Escherichia coli, Streptomyces spp.…”