Cotransductional Mapping of the
            <i>trp-his</i>
            Region of
            <i>Bacillus megaterium</i>

Callahan, James Patrick; Crawford, Irving P.; Hess, Gerard F.; Vary, Patricia S.

doi:10.1128/jb.154.3.1455-1458.1983

Cited by 11 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 17 publications

(12 reference statements)

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“…We have noted, however, that the cotransduction frequencies obtained in this study with MP13 are quite similar to linkage values obtained in B. subtilis by transformation (31). Similar results have been obtained for studies of the trp-hisH region (5,21). The results imply that either the transducing DNA carried by MP13 is much smaller than would be expected or the physical distance between markers on the B. megaterium chromosome is greater than the distance between equivalent markers in B. subtilis.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Genetics of leucine biosynthesis in Bacillus megaterium QM B1551

Garbe¹,

Hess²,

Franzen³

et al. 1984

J Bacteriol

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Genes involved in the biosynthesis of leucine have been mapped in Bacillus megaterium QM B1551, using transducing phage MP13. Mutations were designated leuA, leuB, or leuC on the basis of enzyme assays. Two mutant strains were deficient in the enzyme activities of leuA (a-isopropylmalate synthase) and leuC (,-isopropylmalate dehydrogenase) and so may contain polar mutations. Fine-structure transduction mapping established the gene order leuC-leuB-leuA-ilv-hem-phe. The orientation of the leu genes to the ilv gene is the same as in Bacillus subtilis, but the relationship in respect to two other linked markers, hem and phe, differs. Bacillus megaterium has been used extensively in studies of bacterial sporulation and germination because of its ability to sporulate efficiently and germinate synchronously. It has also been used industrially to produce amino acids and vitamins and to modify antibiotic molecules and hormones (9). A number of mutants are available for study, including strains temperature sensitive for germination (23, 28) and some altered in ATPase activity (8). However, until recently there has been no method of genetic analysis available in B. megaterium. We have previously reported the isolation and characterization of bacteriophage MP13, which mediates generalized transduction in B. megaterium (29, 30), and have used this phage for initial genetic studies on the trp-his region (5) of this species. Genetic analysis of the leucine genes has been initiated since leucine biosynthesis has been extensively studied in Salmonella typhimurium (4, 20, 26) and B. subtilis (31, 32) and the enzymes and intermediates have been identified. Leucine biosynthesis involves only three specific enzymes, making biochemical and genetic characterization much simpler. Finally, the leucine genes in both B. subtilis and Salmonella spp. are linked (20, 31), suggesting that a similar linkage might exist in B. megaterium. Indeed, preliminary experiments suggested that these genes are clustered in this species (11). In this paper, we report the results of our studies on the leucine biosynthetic enzymes in B. megaterium and the fine mapping of the leu region, using MP13mediated transduction. MATERIALS AND METHODS Organisms. All strains used in this study were derived from B. megaterium QM B1551 (ATCC 12872) (Table 1). Bacteriophage MP13 (29) was the vector for all transduc

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Genetics of leucine biosynthesis in Bacillus megaterium QM B1551

Garbe¹,

Hess²,

Franzen³

et al. 1984

J Bacteriol

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Bacillus Megateriumand Other Bacilli: Industrial Applications

Bunk

Biedendieck

Jahn

et al. 2010

Encyclopedia of Industrial Biotechnology

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Strains of the genus Bacillus are Gram‐positive microorganisms. Many of them, such as Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus licheniformis, Bacillus megaterium, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Brevibacillus brevis , and Bacillus clausii offer several advantages in industrial applications. They all have a very efficient protein secretion system, grow on several different and cheap carbon sources, lack endotoxins, and are nonpathogenic. Proteins produced from and with the bacilli are of great industrial importance. Next to B. subtilis , B. megaterium has attracted the most attention in recent years. A toolbox for recombinant protein production, secretion, and purification has been developed that is based on various vectors with different origins of replication, selection markers, promoters, affinity tag sequences, and sequences for a signal peptide. The number of proteins recombinantly produced by B. megaterium has increased rapidly. The genomes of two B. megaterium strains namely QM B1551, which naturally contains seven different plasmids but also has a plasmidless derivative, and DSM319, a naturally plasmidless strain, have now been completely sequenced. Systems biotechnology investigations using transcriptome, proteome, and metabolome analyses in combination with bioinformatics‐based modeling approaches have already started.

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