Bacteria Genomes - BACILLUS SUBTILIS

Bacillus subtilis is a bacterium that is used as a fungicide on flower and ornamental seeds, and on agricultural seeds including seeds for cotton, vegetables, peanuts, and soybeans. The bacterium colonizes the developing root system of the plant and thus competes with certain fungal disease organisms. Use of the fungicide is not expected to harm humans or the environment.

Bacillus subtilis is a Gram-positive, rod-shaped and endospore-forming aerobic bacterium. It is found in soil and rotting plant material and is non-pathogenic. It is one of the most studied gram-positive bacteria. One feature that has attracted a lot of interest in B. subtilis is its ability to differentiate and form endospores.

Several strains related to B. subtilis are used in the commercial production of extracellular enzymes, such as B. amyloliquefaciens alpha-amylase. Other strains produce insect toxins, peptide antibiotics and antifungals, some of which have been used in agricultural crop protection.

B. subtilis forms colonies that are dull and may be wrinkled, cream to brown in colour and when grown in broth have a coherent pellicle; usually with a single arrangement.

The B. subtilis genome contains several genes that are predicted to code for proteins that belong to the cupin superfamily. Cupins are proteins that are related to plant seed storage proteins that fold into small beta-barrels. Several of the B. subtilis cupins share identity with the secreted oxalate-degrading enzymes of fungi and plants. Its genome of 4,214,810 base pairs comprises 4,100 protein-coding genes.

References:

Nature 390 (6657):249-256 (1997)
www.bio.org
www.micron.ac.uk
http://www.epa.gov/