IDENTIFICATION OF BACILLUS SP. FTU STRAIN AND THE STUDY OF THE CAA(3)-TYPE OXIDASE HOMOLOGY

The culture, morphology, and genome of alkalo- and halotolerant bacter ial strain Bacillus sp. FTU w ere characterized; the strain is compare d to other representatives of genus Bacillus. The DNA-DNA hybridizatio n data indicate that the strains of Bacillus halodurans DSM 497 and DS M 2513 and Bacillus sp. FTU belong to the same species. Bacillus sp. F TU can be renamed to Bacillus halodurans FTU. The N-terminal amino aci d fragments of tile subunits I and II of the terminal caa(3)-type cyto chrome c oxidase of B. halodurans FTU were sequenced. The N-terminal f ragments of this enzyme and of the caa(3)-type oxidase of alkalophilic Bacillus firmus OF4 are highly homologous (homology of subunits I and II is over 90 and over 96%, respectively). Such high homology of the terminal oxidases of these bacteria might be due to their alkaline med ium.