Presentation Type
Poster
Keywords
secondary metabolites, promoter replacement, Bacillus megaterium
Department
Chemistry
Major
Biochemistry
Abstract
Historically, the most important source of new antibiotic drug leads has been small organic compounds made by bacteria. Many antibiotics have been developed into pharmaceutical agents from these molecules (often called secondary metabolites) produced by soil bacteria. Bacillus species are soil bacteria known for producing various antimicrobials including gramicidin, bacitracin, surfactin, and others. Bacillus megaterium is a widely used model gram positive bacterium. Although there has been extensive research on this organism, little is known about its secondary metabolites. We hypothesized that the production of secondary metabolites in this organism could be induced by replacing promoters controlling the expression of genes within the identified clusters. In this study, gene clusters that are predicted to control the production of secondary metabolites were identified using the antiSMASH bioinformatics platform. Phenotypic changes in the secondary metabolite profile of B. megaterium were observed when culture conditions were varied indicating that target metabolites are accessible for chemical analysis. To increase production of targeted secondary metabolites, the native promoter of identified secondary metabolite gene clusters will be replaced by an inducible promoter using plasmid mediated chromosomal integration.
Faculty Mentor
P. Matthew Joyner and Jay L. Brewster
Funding Source or Research Program
Summer Undergraduate Research Program
Location
Waves Cafeteria
Start Date
1-4-2016 2:00 PM
End Date
1-4-2016 3:00 PM
Included in
Genetically induced production of secondary metabolites in Bacillus megaterium
Waves Cafeteria
Historically, the most important source of new antibiotic drug leads has been small organic compounds made by bacteria. Many antibiotics have been developed into pharmaceutical agents from these molecules (often called secondary metabolites) produced by soil bacteria. Bacillus species are soil bacteria known for producing various antimicrobials including gramicidin, bacitracin, surfactin, and others. Bacillus megaterium is a widely used model gram positive bacterium. Although there has been extensive research on this organism, little is known about its secondary metabolites. We hypothesized that the production of secondary metabolites in this organism could be induced by replacing promoters controlling the expression of genes within the identified clusters. In this study, gene clusters that are predicted to control the production of secondary metabolites were identified using the antiSMASH bioinformatics platform. Phenotypic changes in the secondary metabolite profile of B. megaterium were observed when culture conditions were varied indicating that target metabolites are accessible for chemical analysis. To increase production of targeted secondary metabolites, the native promoter of identified secondary metabolite gene clusters will be replaced by an inducible promoter using plasmid mediated chromosomal integration.