Molecular detection of TasA gene in endophytic <i>Bacillus</i> species and characterization of the gene in <i>Bacillus amyloliquefaciens</i>

Abstract

TasA, the gene which play an important role in bacteria development, physiology and bacteria biofilm formation in Bacillus species was detected in the endophytic bacteria by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification. In ten endophytic Bacillus strains tested, TasA gene was readily detected in Bacillus amyloliquefaciens PEBA20 and 7 strains of Bacillus subtilis, whereas Bacillus megaterium and Bacillus cereus did not exhibit detectable gene of TasA. The TasA gene cloned from B. amyloliquefaciens consists of the intact open reading frame (ORF) of 786 base pairs encoding a protein of 261 amino acid residues including a conserved signal peptide consisting of 27 amino acid residues. Sequences analyses revealed TasA is highly conserved; however, there is certain difference in the nucleotide sequence and deduced amino acid sequence among the genes harbored in B. amyloliquefaciens and B. subtilis, implying the possible distinction of structure and function of the protein in different bacteria species. This study may be beneficial for the understanding of the genes harbored in Bacillus species in nature and may lead to further study on the gene function.

Key words: TasA gene, detection, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Bacillus species, biofilm.