Selection and Characterization of Catabolite Repression Resistant Mutant of Bacillus firmus var. alkalophilus Producing Cyclodextrin Glucanotransferase

In order to elucidate the mechanism which regulates the production of cyclodextrin glucanotransferase (CGTase) and to achieve overproduction of CGTase by releasing catabolite (glucose) repression, several catabolite repression resistant mutants were selected from newly screened Bacillus firmus var. alkalophilus H609, after NTG (N-methyl-N -nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine) treatment, using 2-deoxyglucose as a nonmetabolizable analog of catabolite glucose and as a selection marker. Five catabolite repression resistant mutants were selected from about 30, 000 2-deoxyglucose resistant colonies. Relative catabolite repression indices of the selected mutants were in the range of 8~80% assuming 100% for parent strain. The amount of CGTase produced by the mutant strain CR41, which was 250 units/ml, was three times larger than that produced by its parent strain. The mutation seems to have occurred in the regulatory region of CGTase gene and not in the structural region or the glucose transporting system in cell membrane. The enzymatic properties of CGTase excreted from parent and mutant strains were also compared.