• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.163-167
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• 2010

Bacillus subtilis 168 secreted antimicrobial substance(s) into culture medium and culture supernatant inhibited growth of some Gram positive bacteria. B. cereus and Listeria monocytogenes were the most sensitive organisms. The antimicrobial activity was destroyed when culture supernatant was treated by protease and proteinase K, indicating the proteinous nature of the substance (bacteriocin). The molecular weight of the bacteriocin was estimated to be 5 kDa by Tricine SDS-PAGE. B. cereus ATCC 14579 cells were killed when exposed to the bacteriocin, indicating that the mode of inhibition was bacteriocidal. These results show that B. subtilis 168 could be useful as a starter for fermented foods such as cheonggukjang where B. cereus contamination is a major concern.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.11
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• pp.1568-1574
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• 2012

Microbiological calcium carbonate precipitation (MCCP) has been investigated for its ability to improve the durability of cement mortar. However, very few strains have been applied to crack remediation and strengthening of cementitious materials. In this study, we report the biodeposition of Bacillus subtilis 168 and its ability to enhance the durability of cement material. B. subtilis 168 was applied to the surface of cement specimens. The results showed a new layer of deposited organic-inorganic composites on the surface of the cement paste. In addition, the water permeability of the cement paste treated with B. subtilis 168 was lower than that of non-treated specimens. Furthermore, artificial cracks in the cement paste were completely remediated by the biodeposition of B. subtilis 168. The compressive strength of cement mortar treated with B. subtilis 168 increased by about 19.5% when compared with samples completed with only B4 medium. Taken together, these findings suggest that the biodeposition of B. subtilis 168 could be used as a sealing and coating agent to improve the strength and water resistance of concrete. This is the first paper to report the application of Bacillus subtilis 168 for its ability to improve the durability of cement mortar through calcium carbonate precipitation.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.17 no.10
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• pp.1688-1694
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• 2007

A gene encoding the mannanase of Bacillus subtilis WL-3, which had been isolated from Korean soybean paste, was cloned into Escherichia coli and the nucleotide sequence of a 2.7-kb DNA fragment containing the mannanase gene was subsequently determined. The mannanase gene, designated manA, consisted of 1,080 nucleotides encoding a polypeptide of 360 amino acid residues. The deduced amino acid sequence was highly homologous to those of mannanases belonging to glycosyl hydrolase family 26. The manA gene was strongly expressed in B. subtilis 168 by cloning the gene downstream of a strong B. subtilis promoter of plasmid $pJ27{\Delta}88U$. In flask cultures, the production of mannanase by recombinant B. subtilis 168 reached maximum levels of 300 units/ml and 450 units/ml in LB medium and LB medium containing 0.3% locust bean gum, respectively. Based on the zymogram ofthe mannanase, it was found that the mannanase produced by recombinant B. subtilis could be maintained stably without proteolytic degradation during the culture time.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.11
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• pp.1863-1870
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• 2015

Fibrinolytic enzyme genes (aprE2, aprE176, and aprE179) were introduced into the Bacillus subtilis 168 chromosome without any antibiotic resistance gene. An integration vector, pDG1662, was used to deliver the genes into the amyE site of B. subtilis 168. Integrants, SJ3-5nc, SJ176nc, and SJ179nc, were obtained after two successive homologous recombinations. The integration of each fibrinolytic gene into the middle of the amyE site was confirmed by phenotypes (Amy-, Spec^S) and colony PCR results for these strains. The fibrinolytic activities of the integrants were higher than that of B. subtilis 168 by at least 3.2-fold when grown in LB broth. Cheonggukjang was prepared by inoculating each of B. subtilis 168, SJ3-5nc, SJ176nc, and SJ179nc, and the fibrinolytic activity of cheonggukjang was 4.6 ± 0.7, 10.8 ± 0.9, 7.0 ± 0.6, and 8.0 ± 0.2 (U/g of cheonggukjang), respectively at 72 h. These results showed that construction of B. subtilis strains with enhanced fibrinolytic activities is possible by integration of a strong fibrinolytic gene via a marker-free manner.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.1054-1059
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• 2005

An extracellular protease was identified from Bacillus subtilis KCCM 10257 by N-terminal sequencing and mass spectral analysis. The molecular mass of the extracellular protease was estimated to be 28 kDa by SDS-PAGE. Sequencing of the N-terminal of the protease revealed the sequence of A(G,S,R)QXVPYG(A)V(P,L)SQ. The N-terminal sequence exhibited close similarity to the sequence of other proteases from Bacillus sp. A mass list of the monoisotopic peaks in the MALDI-TOF spectrum was searched after peptide fragmentation of the protease. Six peptide sequences exhibiting monoisotopic masses of 1,276.61, 1,513.67, 1,652.81, 1,661.83, 1,252.61, and 1,033.46 were observed from the fragmented protease. These monisotopic masses corresponded to the lytic enzyme L27 from Bacillus subtilis 168, and the Mowse score was found to be 75. A doubly charged Top product (MS) at a m/z of 517.3 exhibiting a molecular mass of 1034.6 was further analyzed by de novo sequencing using a PE Sciex QSTAR Hybrid Quadropole-TOF (MS/MS) mass spectrometer. MS/MS spectra of the Top product (MS) at a m/z of 517.3 obtained from the fragmented peptide mixture of protease with Q-star contained the b-ion series of 114.2, 171.2, 286.2, 357.2, 504.2, 667.4, 830.1, and 887.1 and y-ion series of 147.5, 204.2, 367.2, 530.3, 677.4, 748.4, 863.4, and 920.5. The sequence of analyzed peptide ion was identified as LGDAFYYG from the b- and y-ion series by de novo sequencing and corresponded to the results from the MALDI-TOF spectrum. From these results the extracellular protease from Bacillus subtilis KCCM 10257 was successfully identified with the lytic enzyme L27 from Bacillus subtilis 168.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.190-194
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• 2002

Expression of Bacillus subtilis glutamyl-tRNA synthetase (GluRS) in Escherichia coli is lethal for the host, probably because this enzyme misaminoacylates ${tRNA_l}^{Gln}$ with glutamate in vivo. In order to overexpress B. subtilis GluRS, encoded by the gltX gene, in E. coli, this gene was amplified from B. subtilis 168 chromosomal DNA using PCR method and the entire coding region was cloned into a pET11a expression vector so that it was expressed under the control or the T7 Promoter. The resulting recombinant pEBER plasmid was transformed into E. coli Novablue (DE3) bearing the T7 RNA polymerase gene for expression. After IPTG treatment, the overproduced enzyme was purified using ammonium sulfate fractionation, Source Q anion exchange chromatography, Superdex-200 gel filtration, and Mono Q anion exchange chromatography. The purified enzyme yielded 18-fold increase in specific activity over the crude cell extract and its molecular weight was approximately 55 kDa on SDS-PAGE.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.289-292
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• 2023

Thermotolerant Bacillus subtilis NIB353 was isolated from Nuruk, a traditional Korean fermentation starter. The complete B. subtilis NIB353 genome sequence was obtained using MinION and Illumina (MiSeq) platforms. The B. subtilis NIB353 genome sequence was 4,247,447 bp with a GC content of 43%. The B. subtilis NIB353 strain exhibited orthologous average nucleotide identity values of 98.39% and 98.38% with B. subtilis 168 and B. subtilis ATCC6051a, respectively. The genome has been deposited in GenBank under the accession number NZ_CP089148.1.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.252-259
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• 2009

We previously isolated Bacillus strains with high fibrinolytic activities (FAs) from cheonggukjang prepared by traditional ways. To test their potential as starters for cheonggukjang, soybean was fermented for 72 hr at $37^{\circ}C$ with each isolate and a control lab strain: B. subtilis CH3-25 (BS3-25), B. amyloliquefaciens CH51 (BA51), B. amyloliquefaciens CH86-1 (BA86-1), and B. subtilis 168 (BS168, control, lab strain). Viable cell numbers of all cheonggukjang samples rapidly increased and reached about $10^9$ CFU/g after 6 hr. During 72 hr, the initial pH of 6.3 rapidly increased to 8.1$\sim$8.2 for cheonggukjang fermented with BS3-25 or BA86-1, and 7.3 for those with BA51 or BS168. FAs and protease activities (acid, neutral, and alkaline) rapidly increased in cheonggukjang fermented with BS3-25, BA51, or BA86-1 during the first 12 hr. On the other hand, those of cheonggukjang fermented with BS168 slightly increased during the first 36 hr. There were significant changes in acid and neutral protease activities in cheonggukjang fermented with BA51 or BA86-1 during the 24 hr. Rapid increases of $\beta$-glucosidase activity corresponded well with rapid increases of $\alpha$-amylase and $\alpha$-galactosidase activities in addition to increases in antioxidant activities and the TPCs (total phenolic contents). The highest increase in the TPCs was observed in cheonggukjang fermented with BA86-1 while the least was that fermented with BS168.

• The Journal of Natural Sciences
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.57-67
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• 2005

In Order to investigate the physiological role of thiol peroxidase in Bacillus subtilis, a thiol peroxidase (btpx) knock-out mutant was generated by homologous recombination. The growth of btpx knock-out mutant in aerobic condition showed a similar pattern with that of wild type of Bacillus subtilis 168/ But btpx knock-out mutant showed a retarded growht in response to oxidative stress such as $H_2O_2$, cumene hydroperoxide (CHP) treatments.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.16 no.2 s.75
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• pp.274-281
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• 2006

A fibrinolytic enzyme gene was isolated from Bacillus subtilis BB-1 by PCR method. Primers for PCR cloning were designed according to pre-identified gene for fibrinolytic enzymes from B. subtilis. The primer sequences were 5'-CGG ATC CGT GAG AGG CAA AAA GGT G-3' and 5'-TGA ATT CTT AAT GTG CTG CTG CTT GTC C-3' as concensus sequences of the fibrinolytic genes of Bacillus species. The PCR product was 1,145 bp and the sequence homology was 99% with nattokinase gene isolated from Japanese natto. The cloned fibrinolytic gene was reconstructed in Bacillus-E. coli shuttle vector, pEB for bulk-production. The fibrinolytic enzyme was purified by FPLC from the cloned B. subtilis 168. The optimum pH and temperature of the enzyme were 7.0 and $35^{\circ}C$, respectively. The fibrinolytic enzyme did not show any activity toward to skim milk, gelatin, casein and blood agar plate. The enzyme specific polyclonal antibody was prepared in rabbit for further assays such as detection of the gene expression in plant cells. This means that the enzyme may be used for health-care such as thrombosis without any hamful effects in the blood vessel.