The physiological function for thiaminase II, a thiamin-degrading enzyme, has eluded investigators for more than 50 years. Here, we demonstrate that this enzyme is involved in the regeneration of the thiamin pyrimidine rather than in thiamin degradation, and we identify a new pathway involved in the salvage of base-degraded forms of thiamin. This pathway is widely distributed among bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes. In this pathway, thiamin hydrolysis products such as N-formyl-4-amino-5-aminomethyl-2-methylpyrimidine (formylaminopyrimidine; 15) are transported into the cell using the ThiXYZ transport system, deformylated by the ylmB-encoded amidohydrolase and hydrolyzed to 4-amino-5-hydroxymethyl-2-methylpyrimidine (HMP; 6)-an intermediate on the de novo thiamin biosynthetic pathway. To our knowledge this is the first example of a thiamin salvage pathway involving thiamin analogs generated by degradation of one of the heterocyclic rings of the cofactor.

The ban on feed antibiotics by more and more countries, and the expected ban on ZnO in feed supplementation from 2022 in the EU, urge researchers and pig producers to search for new alternatives. One possible alternative is to use the so-called “next-generation probiotics (NGPs)” derived from gastrointestinal tract.

The cyanobacterium Calothrix sp. PCC 7601 can adapt its pigment content in response to changes in the incident light wavelength. It synthesizes, as major light‐harvesting pigments, either phycocyanin 2 (PC2, encoded by the cpc2 operon) under red light or phycoerythrin (PE, encoded by the cpeBA operon) under green light conditions. The last step of the signal transduction pathway is characterized by a transcriptional control of the expression of these operons. Partially purified protein extracts were used in gel retardation assays and DNase I footprinting experiments to identify the factors that interact with the promoter region of the cpeBA operon. We found that two proteins, RcaA and RcaB, only detected in extracts of cells grown under green light, behave as positive transcriptional factors for the expression of the cpeBA operon. Treatment of the fractions containing RcaA and RcaB with alkaline phosphatase prevents the binding of RcaA but not of RcaB to the cpeBA promoter region. A post‐translational modification of RcaA thus modulates its affinity for DNA.

Prokaryote genomes are the result of a dynamic flux of genes, with increases achieved via horizontal gene transfer and reductions occurring through gene loss. The ecological and selective forces that drive this genomic flexibility vary across species. Bacillus subtilis is a naturally competent bacterium that occupies various environments, including plant-associated, soil, and marine niches, and the gut of both invertebrates and vertebrates. Here, we quantify the genomic diversity of B. subtilis and infer the genome dynamics that explain the high genetic and phenotypic diversity observed. Phylogenomic and comparative genomic analyses of 42 B. subtilis genomes uncover a remarkable genome diversity that translates into a core genome of 1,659 genes and an asymptotic pangenome growth rate of 57 new genes per new genome added. This diversity is due to a large proportion of low-frequency genes that are acquired from closely related species. We find no gene-loss bias among wild isolates, which explains why the cloud genome, 43% of the species pangenome, represents only a small proportion of each genome. We show that B. subtilis can acquire xenologous copies of core genes that propagate laterally among strains within a niche. While not excluding the contributions of other mechanisms, our results strongly suggest a process of gene acquisition that is largely driven by competence, where the long-term maintenance of acquired genes depends on local and global fitness effects. This competence-driven genomic diversity provides B. subtilis with its generalist character, enabling it to occupy a wide range of ecological niches and cycle through them.

The genes encoding thiamine kinase in Escherichia coli (ycfN) and thiamine pyrophosphokinase in Bacillus subtilis (yloS) have been identified. This study completes the identification of the thiamine salvage enzymes in bacteria.