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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, September 2004, p. 5222-5228, Vol. 70, No. 9
0099-2240/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/AEM.70.9.5222-5228.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

In Situ Monitoring of Streptothricin Production by Streptomyces rochei F20 in Soil and Rhizosphere

Usanee Anukool, William H. Gaze, and Elizabeth M. H. Wellington^*

Department of Biological Sciences, University of Warwick, Coventry, United Kingdom

Received 21 October 2003/ Accepted 8 April 2004

The onset of streptothricin (ST) biosynthesis in Streptomyces rochei F20 was studied by using reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) to detect transcripts of ST genes during growth in liquid medium, soil, and the rhizosphere. In situ results correlated with those obtained in vitro, illustrating the growth phase-dependent manner of ST production by F20. Maximal transcription of ST resistance (sttR) and biosynthesis (sttA) genes occurred during the transition between the exponential and stationary phases of growth, when the specific growth rate (µ) started to decline. A higher level of gene expression of sttR versus sttA was observed in all experiments. In liquid culture, maximal transcript accumulation of the sttA gene was only ca. 40% that of the sttR gene. sttA and sttR mRNAs were detected in soil containing approximately 10⁶ CFU of growing cells g of soil^–1. sttR mRNA was detected in sterile and nonsterile rhizosphere colonized with growing mycelium of F20 at 1.2 x 10⁶ and 4.0 x 10⁵ CFU g of soil^–1, respectively. However, neither sttR nor sttA transcripts were detected by RT-PCR in the rhizoplane, which supported a lower population density of F20 than the rhizosphere.

Present address: Department of Clinical Microbiology, Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Chiangmai University, Chiangmai 50200, Thailand.

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