Secondary Antimicrobial Metabolites Produced by Thermophilic Bacillus spp. Strains VK2 and VK21

A collection of thermophilic strains of the genus Bacillus was made. The strains were screened for antimicrobial activity. Strains VK2 and VK21 isolated from thermal springs of the Kamchatka Peninsula, and antagonistic to several gram-positive bacterial species were chosen for further investigation of antibiotics produced by them. Restriction analysis of DNA coding for 16S rRNA showed that both strains can be assigned to Bacillus licheniformis. It was shown that the lytic activity of strains VK2 and VK21 was not related to the synthesis of hydrolytic enzymes. The maximum level of antimicrobial activity in the growth medium was found to correspond to the beginning of the stationary growth phase. Addition of manganese sulfate induced sporulation and altered significantly the time course of antibiotic production in both strains. Active metabolites were extracted with n-butanol. They survived boiling for 30 min and were resistant to trypsin and chymotrypsin but were partly hydrolyzed by pronase. They were stable at a pH range of 2.0–9.0.