AUTHOR=Danevčič Tjaša , Borić Vezjak Maja , Tabor Maja , Zorec Maša , Stopar David 

TITLE=Prodigiosin Induces Autolysins in Actively Grown Bacillus subtilis Cells

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=7

YEAR=2016

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2016.00027

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2016.00027

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>Prodigiosin produced by marine bacterium <italic>Vibrio ruber</italic> DSM 14379 exhibits a potent antimicrobial activity against a broad range of Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria. The mechanism of prodigiosin antimicrobial action, however, is not known. In this work, the effect of prodigiosin on <italic>Bacillus subtilis</italic> growth, cell membrane leakage, and induction of autolysins was studied. Treating <italic>B. subtilis</italic> with prodigiosin resulted in rapid decline of optical density and increased cell membrane leakage measured by β-galactosidase activity. Cell lysis was initiated immediately after treatment with prodigiosin in the middle exponential phase and was completed within 2 h. Lytic activity of prodigiosin in mutant strains with impaired autolysin genes <italic>lytABCD</italic> decreased for 80% compared to the wild type strain, while in <italic>lytABCDEF</italic> mutant strain prodigiosin had no bacteriolytic but only bacteriostatic effect. Fast prodigiosin lytic activity on individual <italic>B. subtilis</italic> cells was confirmed by a modified comet assay. The results indicate that prodigiosin autolysin induction in <italic>B. subtilis</italic> is growth phase dependent.</p>