Sporulation of Bacillus subtilis (natto) KFP 4 Isolated from Takahashi natto Starter Derived from Food Extracts

Abstract

We investigated the sporulation of vegetative cells of Bacillus subtilis (natto) KFP ., isolated from commercial Takahashi natto starter. When the temperature of culture plates was increased from-1̮ to .*̮, the spore number (/ml) after sporulation treatment was observed to increase, and the number of spores was maximized by using cells from the second culture day. In a previous study, the addition of *.*+ mmol/ l Mn , to the culture medium increased the spore ratio (ratio of spore number to whole cell number) from 1,ῌ (data obtained in a previous study) to more than 3*ῌ. In the present study, as inorganic Mn , was not permitted as a food additive, we prepared extracts from four foods with high Mn , content : dry sea lettuce, raw and dry green laver, and poppy seeds. By adding these extracts to the medium we could achieve a spore ratio of more than 3*ῌ. There were no large di#erences in organoleptic test results for natto produced with starters prepared from four kinds of food extracts.

Use of physiological information and process optimisation enhances production of extracellular nuclease by a marine strain of Bacillus licheniformis

“…Also, natural sources such as dry sea lettuce and pineapple extracts, which are rich in manganese content, have been shown to increase sporulation in B. subtilis natto sp. (Mitsuboshi et al, 2007). Additionally, Mn acts as a cofactor for enzymes involved in diverse metabolic pathways including nucleotide metabolism and its supplementation induces sporulation, which directly activates sporulation specific gene expressions (Hoover et al, 2010).…”