Comparative Zone Electrophoresis of Enzymes in the Genus Bacillus

Abstract

Extracts from 88 strains representing a wide variety of Bacillus species were examined by zone electrophoresis, followed by specific stains for each of 11 enzyme activities, and were also analyzed for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) buoyant density. Strains representing B. megaterium, B. cereus, B. laterosporus, B. firmus, B. alvei, B. polymyxa, and B. macerans exhibited unique patterns of enzyme migrations for each species. Most strains of B. subtilis and B. amyloliquefaciens also displayed characteristic enzyme migration patterns for each species. However, one strain, B. subtilis KA63, resembled B. amyloliquefaciens in DNA composition and enzyme types. It was previously reported to resemble B. amyloliquefaciens in DNA-DNA homology. Another group of strains, which was homogeneous and distinctive in electrophoretic enzyme types, included two strains of B. subtilis subsp. niger and one of B. subtilis subsp. globigii. Yet another group contained the type strains for B. licheniformis, B. pulvifaciens, and B. coagulans. A second B. coagulans strain was quite different from that in the above-mentioned group or from any other Bacillus strain examined. Strains of B. pumilus fell into two distinct biotypes according to the electrophoretic data; culturally, they comprised a homogeneous set. Representatives of B. thuringiensis, B. bombycis, and B. entomocidus were not distinguishable from B. cereus by these data.