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

Biochemistry Commons

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Apr 1st, 2:00 PM Apr 1st, 3:00 PM

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.

 

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