Identification of Bacillus sp. FTU strain and the study of the caa3-type oxidase homology

Abstract

The culture, morphology, and genome of alkalo- and halotolerant bacterial strain Bacillus sp. FTU were characterized; the strain is compared to other representatives of genus Bacillus. The DNA-DNA hybridization data indicate that the strains of Bacillus halodurans DSM 497 and DSM 2513 and Bacillus sp. FTU belong to the same species. Bacillus sp. FTU can be renamed to Bacillus halodurans FTU. The N-terminal amino acid fragments of the subunits I and II of the terminal caa3-type cytochrome c oxidase of B. halodurans FTU were sequenced. The N-terminal fragments of this enzyme and of the caa3-type oxidase of alkalophilic Bacillus firmus OF4 are highly homologous (homology of subunits I and II is over 90 and over 96%, respectively). Such high homology of the terminal oxidases of these bacteria might be due to their alkaline medium.