J. Bacteriol., Oct 1996, 6059-6063, Vol 178, No. 20
Copyright © 1996, American Society for Microbiology

A gene (sleB) encoding a spore cortex-lytic enzyme from Bacillus subtilis and response of the enzyme to L-alanine-mediated germination

R Moriyama, A Hattori, S Miyata, S Kudoh and S Makino
Department of Applied Biological Sciences, School of Agricultural Sciences, Nagoya University, Aichi, Japan. moriyama@nuagr1.agr.nagoya- u.ac.jp

The Bacillus subtilis sleB gene, which codes for the enzyme homologous to the germination-specific amidase from Bacillus cereus, was cloned and its nucleotide sequence was determined. Sequence analysis showed that it had an open reading frame of 918 bp, coding for a polypeptide of 305 amino acids with a putative signal sequence of 29 residues. Enzyme activity was not found in germination exudate of B. subtilis spores, which differs from the case of B. cereus enzyme. A B. subtilis mutant with an insertionally inactivated sleB gene revealed normal behavior in growth and sporulation. However, the sleB mutant was unable to complete germination mediated by L-alanine.

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