ARS | Publication request: Mass Spectrometric Analysis of Lipopeptide from Bacillus Strains Isolated from Diverse Geographical Locations

Submitted to: Federation of European Microbiological Societies Microbiology Letters
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: February 21, 2007
Publication Date: April 1, 2007
Citation: Price, N.P., Rooney, A.P., Swezey, J.L., Perry, E., Cohan, F.M. 2007. Mass spectrometric analysis of lipopeptide from Bacillus strains isolated from diverse geographical locations. Federation of European Microbiological Societies Microbiology Letters. 271(1):83-9.

Interpretive Summary: Lipopeptides biomarkers are often used to characterize the Bacillus family of bacteria. Several also have commercially importance as anti-bacterial and anti-fungal agents. This paper, arising for a collaboration of researchers at the USDA-ARS-NCAUR and at Welseyan University, describes and correlates lipopeptides from 54 different Bacillus strains, isolated from 7 diverse geographical locations. These strains are part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (USDA - RS) Culture Collection in Peoria, Illinois (http://nrrl.ncaur.usda.gov), where they are permanently archived. Several strains that produce lipopeptide antibiotics were identified, and may be of potential interest to the U.S. pharmaceutical industry.

Technical Abstract: Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) has been applied to characterize lipopeptide biomarkers from 54 different strains of Bacillis from most taxa within the B. subtilis - B. licheniformis clade, isolated from 7 different geographic locations on five different continents. The results show that even the most narrowly defined taxa are highly diverse in terms of the lipopetide profiles. Many strains produce previously identified compounds with known antimicrobial properties (e.g., polymyxins, bacitracins, etc.), whereas certain other compounds represent novel classes that were hitherto unknown. Of particular interest is the novel 942/958 Da biomarkers produced by B. s. spizizeni desert strains and several type strains.