EXTRACELLULAR ENZYME-SYNTHESIS IN A SPORULATION-DEFICIENT STRAIN OF BACILLUS-LICHENIFORMIS

A deletion of the spoIIAC gene of Bacillus licheniformis was prepared in vitro by using the splicing-by-overlap-extension technique, This ge ne was introduced into B. licheniformis on a temperature-sensitive pla smid, and following integration and excision from the chromosome, a pr ecisely located deletion on the chromosomal gene was prepared. The mut ated bacterium was totally asporogenous and formed abortively disporic cells characterized by asymmetric septa at the poles of the cells, Qu alitative plate tests revealed that the bacterium synthesized normal l evels of DNase, polygalacturonate lyase, protease, RNase, and xylanase , but the hydrolysis zones due to beta-1,3-glucanase and carboxymethyl cellulase activity were smaller in the mutant than in the parent stra in, The synthesis of alkaline protease was the same in batch cultures of the mutant and the parent during prolonged incubation for 72 h, but the alpha-amglase yields were reduced by about 30% by the mutation.