Production and secretion stress caused by overexpression of heterologous alpha-amylase leads to inhibition of sporulation and a prolonged motile phase in Bacillus subtilis.

Transcriptome analysis was used to investigate the global stress response of the gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis caused by overproduction of the well-secreted AmyQ alpha-amylase from Bacillus amyloliquefaciens. Analyses of the control and overproducing strains were carried out at the end of exponential growth and in stationary phase, when protein secretion from B. subtilis is optimal. Among the genes that showed increased expression were htrA and htrB, which are part of the CssRS regulon, which responds to high-level protein secretion and heat stress. The analysis of the transcriptome profiles of a cssS mutant compared to the wild type, under identical secretion stress conditions, revealed several genes with altered transcription in a CssRS-dependent manner, for example, citM, ylxF, yloA, ykoJ, and several genes of the flgB operon. However, high-affinity CssR binding was observed only for htrA, htrB, and, possibly, citM. In addition, the DNA macroarray approach revealed that several genes of the sporulation pathway are downregulated by AmyQ overexpression and that a group of motility-specific (sigmaD-dependent) transcripts were clearly upregulated. Subsequent flow-cytometric analyses demonstrate that, upon overproduction of AmyQ as well as of a nonsecretable variant of the alpha-amylase, the process of sporulation is severely inhibited. Similar experiments were performed to investigate the expression levels of the hag promoter, a well-established reporter for sigmaD-dependent gene expression. This approach confirmed the observations based on our DNA macroarray analyses and led us to conclude that expression levels of several genes involved in motility are maintained at high levels under all conditions of alpha-amylase overproduction.

The bioconversion process of deoxypodophyllotoxin with Linum flavum cell cultures.

The in vitro cell suspension culture of Linum flavum is able to convert high amounts of the 2,7'-cyclolignan deoxypodophyllotoxin into 6-methoxypodophyllotoxin 7- O-glucoside. We studied this conversion in detail by monitoring the intermediates and side-products after feeding different concentrations of deoxypodophyllotoxin. At a low concentration (0.1 mM) deoxypodophyllotoxin is rapidly converted into 6-methoxypodophyllotoxin 7- O-glucoside, 6-methoxypodophyllotoxin and traces of beta-peltatin and podophyllotoxin. The feeding of 0.5 and 2.0 mM also shows a rapid conversion into 6-methoxypodophyllotoxin 7- O-glucoside, but a delayed formation of 6-methoxypodophyllotoxin and beta-peltatin. By using different extraction methods we delivered proof in favour of the hypothesis that a part of the deoxypodophyllotoxin after uptake is temporarily stored as beta-peltatin glucoside.

Genome engineering reveals large dispensable regions in Bacillus subtilis.

Bacterial genomes contain 250 to 500 essential genes, as suggested by single gene disruptions and theoretical considerations. If this view is correct, the remaining nonessential genes of an organism, such as Bacillus subtilis, have been acquired during evolution in its perpetually changing ecological niches. Notably, approximately 47% of the approximately 4,100 genes of B. subtilis belong to paralogous gene families in which several members have overlapping functions. Thus, essential gene functions will outnumber essential genes. To answer the question to what extent the most recently acquired DNA contributes to the life of B. subtilis under standard laboratory growth conditions, we initiated a "reconstruction" of the B. subtilis genome by removing prophages and AT-rich islands. Stepwise deletion of two prophages (SPbeta, PBSX), three prophage-like regions, and the largest operon of B. subtilis (pks) resulted in a genome reduction of 7.7% and elimination of 332 genes. The resulting strain was phenotypically characterized by metabolic flux analysis, proteomics, and specific assays for protein secretion, competence development, sporulation, and cell motility. We show that genome engineering is a feasible strategy for functional analysis of large gene clusters, and that removal of dispensable genomic regions may pave the way toward an optimized Bacillus cell factory.