This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kambourova, M.
Right arrow Articles by Priest, F. G.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Kambourova, M.
Right arrow Articles by Priest, F. G.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Kambourova, M.
Right arrow Articles by Priest, F. G.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2001, p. 1004-1007, Vol. 67, No. 2
0099-2240/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/AEM.67.2.1004-1007.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Regulation of Polyglutamic Acid Synthesis by Glutamate in Bacillus licheniformis and Bacillus subtilis

Margarita Kambourova,1 Martin Tangney,2 and Fergus G. Priest3,*

Institute of Microbiology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia 1113, Bulgaria,1 and School of Life Sciences, Napier University, Edinburgh, EH10 5DT,2 and Department of Biological Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS,3 United Kingdom

Received 19 June 2000/Accepted 30 November 2000

The synthesis of polyglutamic acid (PGA) was repressed by exogenous glutamate in strains of Bacillus licheniformis but not in strains of Bacillus subtilis, indicating a clear difference in the regulation of synthesis of capsular slime in these two species. Although extracellular gamma -glutamyltranspeptidase (GGT) activity was always present in PGA-producing cultures of B. licheniformis under various growth conditions, there was no correlation between the quantity of PGA and enzyme activity. Moreover, the synthesis of PGA in the absence of detectable GGT activity in B. subtilis S317 indicated that this enzyme was not involved in PGA biosynthesis in this bacterium. Glutamate repression of PGA biosynthesis may offer a simple means of preventing unwanted slime production in industrial fermentations using B. licheniformis.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biological Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH 14 4AS, Scotland, United Kingdom. Phone: 44 131 451 3464. Fax: 44 131 451 3009. E-mail: f.g.priest{at}hw.ac.uk.

Applied and Environmental Microbiology, February 2001, p. 1004-1007, Vol. 67, No. 2
0099-2240/01/$04.00+0   DOI: 10.1128/AEM.67.2.1004-1007.2001
Copyright © 2001, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Kimura, K., Tran, L.-S. P., Itoh, Y. (2004). Roles and regulation of the glutamate racemase isogenes, racE and yrpC, in Bacillus subtilis. Microbiology 150: 2911-2920 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»