title: Detection of biosurfactants in Bacillus species: genes and products identification.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To screen environmental Bacillus strains for detection of genes encoding the enzymes involved in biosurfactant synthesis and to evaluate their products e.g. surfactin, iturin and fengycin.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The taxonomic identification of isolated from the environment Bacillus strains was performed by Microgene ID Bacillus panel and GEN III Biolog system. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) strategy for screening of genes in Bacillus strains was set up. Liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was used for the identification of lipopeptides (LPs). All studied strains exhibited the presence of srfAA gene and produced surfactin mostly as four homologues (C13 to C16). Moreover, in 2 strains (KP7, T'-1) simultaneous co-production of 3 biosurfactants: surfactin, iturin and fengycin was observed. Additionally, it was found out that isolate identified as Bacillus subtilis ssp. subtilis (KP7), beside LPs co-production, synthesizes surfactin with the efficiency much higher than other studied strains (40·2 mg l(-1) ) and with the yield ranging from 0·8 to 8·3 mg l(-1) .
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We showed that the combined methodology based on PCR and LC-MS/MS technique is an optimal tool for the detection of genes encoding enzymes involved in biosurfactant synthesis as well as their products, e.g. surfactin, iturin and fengycin. This approach improves the screening and the identification of environmental Bacillus co-producing biosurfactants-stimulating and facilitating the development of this area of science.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings of this work will help to improve screening of biosurfactant producers. Discovery of novel biosurfactants and biosurfactants co-production ability has shed light on their new application fields and for the understanding of their interactions and properties.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Microbiology, Institute for Ecology of Industrial Areas, Katowice, Poland.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Płaza
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Microbiology, Institute for Ecology of Industrial Areas, Katowice, Poland.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chojniak
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Gastroimmunology, Department of Immunology and Infectious Biology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rudnicka
authors.affiliation: Department of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Paraszkiewicz
authors.affiliation: Department of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology, Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection, University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bernat
mesh_terms: D001407:Bacillus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D055666:Lipopeptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction / Q000379:methods*; D013501:Surface-Active Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D053719:Tandem Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D055666:Lipopeptides; D013501:Surface-Active Agents; C049972:fengycin
keywords: Bacillus; LC-MS/MS; PCR; biolog system; biosurfactant genes; fengycin; iturin; screening; surfactin