Growth conditions affecting the expression of amylase in bacillus species.

Abstract

Microorgansims must be able to respond effectively to nutrient availability in their environment in order to replicate and survive. Enzymes allow microorganisms to catalyze metabolic reactions after nutrients have been taken in. Enzyme synthesis depends on the presence or absence of nutrients and allows microorganisms to utilize energy and replicate effectively through enzyme repression or induction. One example of such an enzyme is amylase, an extracellular enzyme capable of hydrolyzing the alpha-1,4 glycosidic linkages of starch, produced by the genus Bacillus. Among the different Bacillus species, amylase gene and protein sequence exhibits variability. Hence, this study investigated and proved that different growing environments affect amylase expression from B. coagulans, B. megaterium, B. sphaericus. B. subtilis. and B. thuringiensis. These findings may allow for a better understanding of amylase expression in the food and biotechnological industries. In these industries, microbial sources receive most of the attention due to their inexpensive cost production. However, commercial production levels are variable which further illustrates the need to examine growth conditions. The present studies further allowed for the development of a laboratory experiment addressing genetic regulation of the amylase gene in Bacillus species that can be performed in a high school or college laboratory setting.