, 2009) In our study, tet(40) was located in tandem with tet(O)

, 2009). In our study, tet(40) was located in tandem with tet(O). Sequence homology search showed that the ARGs we identified in this study

were of diverse bacterial origin, including nonpathogenic species such as Bifidobacterium longum, as well as opportunistic pathogens such as Streptococcus suis and Staphylococcus pseudintermedius. Because the potential for gene transfer in the human gut is very high due to the dense microbial population (Kazimierczak & Scott, 2007), it is worth addressing in the future to what extent these bacteria serve as donors, disseminating the ARGs to other bacteria, especially the incoming pathogenic bacteria. The learn more fosmid-based method has some potential disadvantages in ARG screening. Genes on smaller plasmids (< 30 kb) might not be represented in the metagenomic library. Moreover, only ARGs that are properly expressed in E. coli with their own promoters will be identified. However, the fosmid-based

method also has advantages. The larger insert size increases the likelihood see more of cloning complete ARGs. In fact, nearly one-third of resistant fosmid clones could not be subcloned, even after several trials. This could be because different vectors were used for cloning (pCC2FOS) and subcloning (pUC118 or pHSG298) or because some resistant determinants are out of the range of length chosen for subcloning (1–5 kb). Our further work will focus on whole-length sequencing to elucidate the resistance mechanisms conferred by the clones that failed to be subcloned.

It is worth noting that although the human subjects we used in this study were not exposed to antibiotic treatment for at least Cell press 6 months prior to sampling, we cannot exclude their antibiotic consumption history. As antibiotic-resistant strains can persist in the human host environment in the absence of selective pressure for a long time (Jernberg et al., 2010), the ARGs we identified cannot be considered intrinsic; they are probably the results of selective pressure conferred by antibiotics that the gut microbes previously encountered and somehow managed to maintain in the gut. In summary, we constructed a metagenomic library from four human gut microbiota and screened for ARGs, uncovering diverse new genes, including a new kanamycin resistance gene fusion. This work helps us to further understand the ARG reservoir of the human gut microbiota, and we believe that other new ARGs will be mined from human gut in the near future. However, to what degree these ARGs in our gut are linked to the potential emergence and dissemination of antimicrobial resistance genes in human pathogens is unclear. This work was supported in part by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program grants 2007CB513002 and 2009CB522605). Please note: Wiley-Blackwell is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting materials supplied by the authors.

Publication in HIV Medicine Shortened version detailing concise

Publication in HIV Medicine. Shortened version detailing concise summary of recommendations. E-learning module accredited for CME. Educational EX 527 cost slide set to support local and regional educational meetings. National BHIVA audit programme. The guidelines will be next fully updated and revised in 2014. However, the Writing Group will continue to meet regularly to consider new information from high-quality studies and publish amendments and addendums to the current recommendations before the full revision date where this is thought to be clinically important to ensure

continued best clinical practice. “
“Deinococcus radiodurans tolerates extensive DNA damage and exhibits differential expression of various genes associated with the growth of the organism Staurosporine nmr and DNA repair. In cells treated with γ radiation, the levels of cyclic AMP (cAMP) and ATP increased rapidly by differentially regulating adenylyl cyclase (AC) and 2′3′ cAMP phosphodiesterase. The levels of cAMP, ATP, AC and protein kinases were high when phosphodiesterase activity was low. These cells exhibited in vivo inhibition of nucleolytic function by reversible protein phosphorylation and contained the comparatively higher levels of total phosphoproteins. We suggest that Deinococcus, a prokaryote, uses DNA damage-induced signaling mechanism as evidenced by γ radiation-induced synthesis

of secondary messengers and signaling enzymes. Protein phosphorylation constitutes an important regulatory network that controls the cellular functions including cell division, cellular differentiation and signal transduction in all organisms (Pawson, 1994). At molecular levels, this regulates metabolic functions such as enzyme activity modulation, protein trafficking, protein–protein and DNA–protein interactions and recycling of proteins (Ubersax & Ferrell, 2007). By reversible protein phosphorylation, the functions of proteins can be rapidly modulated without the need for new protein synthesis

or degradation. This phenomenon until is regulated by the relative abundance of stress-responsive protein kinases and phosphatases in the cells (Sefton & Hunter, 1998). In eukaryotes, the significance of reversible protein phosphorylation is amply illustrated by the involvement of DNA damage-induced signal transduction and protein kinase C-mediated signaling mechanism in cell cycle regulation (Sancar et al., 2004; Kitagawa & Kastan, 2005). The existence of such mechanisms and their implications in DNA strand break (DSB) repair and bacterial growth would be worth investigating in Deinococcus radiodurans, a bacterium that confers extraordinary tolerance to DNA damage and has acquired a large number of putative sensor kinases and response regulators (White et al., 1999) from other organisms (Makarova et al., 2001).

Ocular input to Vc/C1 units by bright

light or hypertonic

Ocular input to Vc/C1 units by bright

light or hypertonic saline was markedly reduced by PH disinhibition and reversed completely by local Vc/C1 application of SB334867. OxA applied to the Vc/C1 surface mimicked the effects of PH disinhibition in a dose-dependent manner. OxA-induced inhibition was prevented by co-application of SB334867, but not by the orexin-2 receptor antagonist TCS Ox2 29. PH disinhibition and local OxA application also reduced the high threshold convergent cutaneous receptive field area of ocular units, suggesting widespread effects on somatic input to Vc/C1 ocular units. Vc/C1 application of OxA or SB334867 alone did not affect the background ALK assay discharge of ocular units and suggested that the PH–OxA influence on ocular unit activity was not tonically active. Vc/C1 application of OxA or SB334867 alone also did not alter mean arterial pressure, whereas PH disinhibition evoked prompt and sustained increases. These results suggest that stimulus-evoked increases in PH outflow acts through OxA and orexin-1 receptors to alter the encoding properties of trigeminal brainstem neurons responsive to input from the Temsirolimus datasheet ocular surface and

deep tissues of the eye. “
“Visual sequential search might use a peripheral spatial ranking of the scene to put the next target of the sequence in the correct order. This strategy, indeed, might enhance the discriminative capacity of the human peripheral vision and spare neural resources associated with foveation. However, it is not known how exactly the peripheral vision sustains sequential search and whether the sparing of neural resources has a cost in terms of performance. To elucidate these issues, we compared strategy and performance during an alpha-numeric sequential task where peripheral vision was modulated in three different conditions: normal, blurred, or obscured. If spatial ranking is applied to increase the peripheral discrimination, its use as a strategy in visual sequencing should differ according to the degree of discriminative

information that can be obtained from the periphery. Moreover, if this strategy spares neural resources without impairing the performance, its use should be associated with better performance. We found that spatial ranking was applied when peripheral vision was fully available, reducing the number HSP90 and time of explorative fixations. When the periphery was obscured, explorative fixations were numerous and sparse; when the periphery was blurred, explorative fixations were longer and often located close to the items. Performance was significantly improved by this strategy. Our results demonstrated that spatial ranking is an efficient strategy adopted by the brain in visual sequencing to highlight peripheral detection and discrimination; it reduces the neural cost by avoiding unnecessary foveations, and promotes sequential search by facilitating the onset of a new saccade.

18% reduction) to Caco-2 cells when added before the enteric path

18% reduction) to Caco-2 cells when added before the enteric pathogen, but had no effect when added 3 h after the addition of the EPEC strain (Fig. 4). In contrast to the study by Michail & Abernathy (2002), where coincubation of the L. plantarum 299v with the EPEC strain did not result in any statistically significant reduction in EPEC adherence, when the L. plantarum DSM 2648 was added simultaneously with the EPEC in this study, EPEC adherence to the Caco-2 cells was reduced by 65.5% (3 h) and 55.9% (6 h), respectively (Fig. 4). This study showed that L. plantarum DSM 2648 has a number of characteristics desirable for a probiotic selected specifically for its ability Selleckchem PD98059 to enhance intestinal barrier

function. These data warrant further investigation to determine whether the promising in vitro results correspond with in vivo efficacy and to understand the mechanism by which it exerts the positive effects on Caco-2 cells alone and a reduction Gefitinib ic50 in the deleterious effects of EPEC during coincubation. The ability of L.

plantarum DSM 2648 to survive passage through the gastrointestinal system could be investigated by monitoring viability in the faeces of humans consuming the bacterium. If proven to be effective, L. plantarum DSM 2648 could be used as a probiotic to benefit humans with a range of conditions as well as for general well-being. This work was funded by the AgResearch PreSeed Fund (contract #118). R.C.A. was supported by a Foundation of Research, Science and Technology Postdoctoral Fellowship (AGRX0602). The authors acknowledge the contributions of Kate Broadley, Michelle Kirk and Kelly Armstrong (cell culture), Diana Pacheco (16S rRNA gene sequencing), Rechelle Perry (tolerance assays), Caroline Thum (adherence assays) and Jason Peters and Steven Trask (TEER assays). “
“Topoisomerases are an important class of enzymes for regulating the DNA transaction processes. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is one of Protein tyrosine phosphatase the most formidable pathogens also posing serious challenges for therapeutic interventions. The organism contains

only one type IA topoisomerase (Rv3646c), offering an opportunity to test its potential as a candidate drug target. To validate the essentiality of M. tuberculosis topoisomerase I (TopoIMt) for bacterial growth and survival, we have generated a conditionally regulated strain of topoI in Mtb. The conditional knockdown mutant exhibited delayed growth on agar plate. In liquid culture, the growth was drastically impaired when TopoI expression was suppressed. Additionally, novobiocin and isoniazid showed enhanced inhibitory potential against the conditional mutant. Analysis of the nucleoid revealed its altered architecture upon TopoI depletion. These studies establish the essentiality of TopoI for the M. tuberculosis growth and open up new avenues for targeting the enzyme.

, 2010) HopF2 has also been demonstrated to suppress the HR-indu

, 2010). HopF2 has also been demonstrated to suppress the HR-inducing activity of HopA1 in Arabidopsis Ws-0 and N. tabacum cv. Xanthi and also the HR induced by Pseudomonas fluorescens expressing AvrRpm1 in Arabidopsis (Jamir et al., 2004; Guo et al., 2009). Previous studies showed that HopF1 can interfere with the avrβ1-trigerred immunity in bean cultivar Tendergreen (Tsiamis et al., 2000). Here we found that silencing of PvRIN4a in Tendergreen greatly impaired the avrβ1-induced HR and strongly promoted multiplication of strain RW60 (Fig. 5), suggesting

that PvRIN4a is possibly an avirulence target of avrβ1. As HopF1 interacts with PvRIN4a, HopF1 might inhibit the avrβ1-trigerred resistance through targeting PvRIN4a. The mechanisms underlying the interaction between this website HopF1 and avrβ1 require further investigation. Lenvatinib purchase Overall, our results showed that HopF1 can suppress flg22-induced PTI responses in common bean. HopF1 was confirmed

to target both RIN4 othologs of bean, PvRIN4a and PvRIN4b, based on both in vitro and in vivo data, but both PvRIN4a and PvRIN4b are not the virulence targets of HopF1 for PTI inhibition. Furthermore, we also found that PvRIN4a was required for avrβ1-triggered HR, suggesting that HopF1 possibly suppressed avirulence function of avrβ1 by acting on PvRIN4a. We are grateful to John W. Mansfield for providing strains of Psp race 6 1448A, Psp race 7 1449B RW60, pPP511 construct, and seeds of common bean. We also thank Chunquan Zhang for

providing pGG7R2-V vector. This research was supported by the National Science Foundation of China (30900047 and 51078224). “
“HIC6 is a group-3 late embryogenesis abundant protein found in Chlorella vulgaris. In the Antarctic strain NJ-7 of this unicellular green alga, it is encoded by a tandem array of five hiC6 genes (designated as NJ7hiC6-1, -2, -3, -4 and -5); in the temperate strain UTEX259, it is encoded by four hiC6 genes in tandem (designated as 259hiC6-1, -2, -3 and -4). Except for NJ7hiC6-3 and -4, the encoding regions of all other hiC6 genes differ from each other by 2–19 bp in each strain. Based on RT-PCR and Inositol monophosphatase 1 sequencing of total hiC6 cDNA clones, the relative transcript abundance of each hiC6 gene was evaluated. NJ7hiC6-2 and 259hiC6-2 were not expressed or expressed at low levels, whereas 259hiC6-1 and NJ7hiC6-3/4 exhibited the highest hiC6 transcript levels in the respective strains. In vitro assays showed that different isoforms of HIC6 provided almost identical cryoprotection of lactate dehydrogenase. Our studies suggest that the formation of the tandem arrays of hiC6 in Chlorella is a process of gene duplications accompanied by gene expression divergence. Chlorella vulgaris is a unicellular green alga often used as the eukaryotic model in studies of stress responses. Using C. vulgaris strain C-27, acquisition of freezing tolerance by cold-hardening has been extensively studied (Hatano et al., 1976; Honjoh et al., 1995, 1999, 2000, 2001; Machida et al.

There are two important caveats to our attack rate estimate: the

There are two important caveats to our attack rate estimate: the first caveat is that some cases may not have been reported to the authors of this study because of misdiagnosis or misinterpretation of imaging studies and attack rate may actually be higher. In Israel, practically all patients presenting with new onset neurologic symptoms such as new onset seizures, severe headaches, or focal deficits undergo extensive neuroimaging studies. Thus, although there may be an initial

delay in diagnosis, most symptomatic NCC patients in Israel were probably reported JAK inhibitor due to characteristic clinical and neuroimaging findings and referral to specialized neurology/neurosurgery centers.7 On the Z-VAD-FMK purchase other hand, the second caveat is that some of the cases may have been acquired in Israel and not during travel. Despite the fact that Israel is not endemic for NCC, immigrants from

endemic areas may transmit the disease.12 In this case, the actual travel-related attack rate is even lower then calculated. This would strengthen our conclusion that NCC is a rare condition in travelers. The low attack rate we found among Israeli travelers is in parallel with the paucity of reports of NCC in travelers. We thoroughly reviewed the literature beginning in 1980 and found that only 10 other cases were reported (Table 3).14–23 This is in contrast to the high seroprevalence and clinical disease rates among local populations in endemic areas. For example, in Latin America T. solium seroprevalence of over

6% to 10% has been reported, with a NCC clinical disease rate Montelukast Sodium as high as 5% among seropositive individuals.3 Thus travelers might either have less exposure or mild exposure which does not lead to the clinical syndrome of NCC. One report in the literature found a positive serologic test for T. solium antibodies in 8.2% of 73 Peace Corps volunteers in Madagascar. In this report, two brain cysts were found in one asymptomatic seropositive volunteer.24 There are no other studies regarding seroprevalence of T. solium in travelers. Since most western travelers come from regions regarded nonendemic for NCC, they should be regarded as having NCC-naÏve immunological status and positive serology is probably an accurate marker of infection. We suspect that, due to the fecal–oral nature of transmission of NCC, a significant percentage of seroprevalence would presumably be found if traveler populations to endemic countries were to be tested, and the low incidence of clinical NCC in travelers may be attributed to a low parasite burden as compared with an endemic population. Other differences, such as genetic factors, may also explain the difference. Most of our patients were males despite the fact that women comprise nearly half of the total number of Israeli travelers to countries endemic for cysticercosis.

A cell density-dependent lag period was observed before swarming

A cell density-dependent lag period was observed before swarming motility was MI-503 order initiated. Surface migration began 3–5 days after inoculation and a full swarming phenotype was observed 3 weeks after inoculation. The swarming front was

preceded by a clear extracellular matrix, from which we failed to detect surfactants. The edge of the swarming front formed by VF39SM was characterized by hyperflagellated cells arranged in rafts, whereas the cells at the point of inoculation were indistinguishable from vegetative cells. Swarmer cells formed by 3841, in contrast, showed a minor increase in flagellation, with each swarmer cell exhibiting an average of three flagellar filaments, compared with an average of two flagella per vegetative cell. Reflective of their hyperflagellation, the VF39SM swarmer cells GSK-3 beta pathway demonstrated an increased expression

of flagellar genes. VF39SM swarmed better than 3841 under all the conditions tested, and the additional flagellation in VF39SM swarm cells may contribute to this difference. Metabolism of the supplemented carbon source appeared to be necessary for surface migration as strains incapable of utilizing the carbon source failed to swarm. We also observed that swarmer cells have increased resistance to several antibiotics. Swarming motility refers to the coordinated movement of groups of bacterial cells on semi-solid surfaces (Fraser & Hughes, 1999; Braeken et al., 2008; Verstraeten et al., 2008), and often involves the differentiation of vegetative cells into hyperflagellated swarmer cells (Fraser & Hughes, 1999). The differentiated swarmer cells are organized parallel to their long axis in the form of rafts that rapidly colonize the entire surface of an agar medium (Harshey, 1994; Daniels et al., 2004). The rapid outward migration of the swarmer cells at the edge of the swarming colonies is accompanied by bacterial growth inside the colony (Sharma & Anand, 2003). The swarm front is preceded by a clear layer of slime-like extracellular material that also confers a glistening effect on

the swarming colonies (Harshey, 1994; Fraser & Hughes, 1999; Daniels et al., 2004; Julkowska et al., 2004). Quisqualic acid This extracellular matrix, which serves as a hydrated environment for the swarmer cells, consists of polysaccharides, biosurfactants, peptides, and proteins (Verstraeten et al., 2008). Swarming has been well studied in Proteus mirabilis, Proteus vulgaris, and in some species of Bacillus and Clostridium (Sharma & Anand, 2003). At present, swarming has been demonstrated in a wide range of bacteria including members of Vibrio, Serratia, Chromobacterium, Escherichia, Salmonella, Azospirillum, Pseudomonas, Yersinia, Sinorhizobium, Rhizobium, and Agrobacterium (Hall & Krieg, 1983; Harshey & Matsuyama, 1994; Kohler et al., 2000; Soto et al., 2002; Sharma & Anand, 2003; Kim & Surette, 2005; Daniels et al., 2006; Sule et al., 2009).

We used the tool to screen three published

studies with s

We used the tool to screen three published

studies with sequences deposited in the first 2 months after our GenBank survey took place. Among the 1076 16S sequences published by Fujita et al. (2010), we found 403 (37%) sequences that were reverse complementary (i.e. average HMM detection ratio of 0 : 6), indicating that reverse complementary sequences can be a very significant problem. Screening the very small dataset of Jurado et al. (2010), one among the 39 sequences was reverse complementary (i.e. HMM ratio 0 : 10), indicating that reverse complementary entries can occur even in very small datasets where manual selleck chemical curation should not be an issue. No reverse complementary sequences or any other anomalies were detected among the 11 173 sequences published by Durso et al. (2010), demonstrating that v-revcomp can identify studies of high data integrity with respect to reverse complementary sequences. The fraction of reverse complementary 16S sequences in public data repositories is around 1%, which Z-VAD-FMK research buy must be seen as low, given the error-prone user-controlled submission mechanism and the lack of support for third-party annotation of INSD entries (Pennisi, 2008). Nevertheless, the over 9000 reverse complementary

sequences can have serious implications for downstream analysis if the user is not aware of their status. Furthermore, the number of sequences deposited in these repositories will increase drastically with HTS technologies used in amplicon and metagenome sequencing projects, highlighting the need to detect these events in an automated manner. The clear cases of reverse complementary sequences found in this survey were reported to NCBI for reorientation. NCBI does not need prior agreement with sequence authors in order to correct sequences that were deposited in the incorrect

orientation, and such reorientations are brought about quickly. While the problem of reverse complementary sequences can be avoided with v-revcomp, the number and types of anomalous 16S sequences are of greater concern. It is worrisome that we detected 136 sequences that were taxonomically misclassified at the domain level, and more surprising that 26 cases did Reverse transcriptase not even represent ribosomal genes. Our results stress the importance of critically examining sequences before inclusion in scientific analysis and submission to public databases (Harris, 2003). While v-revcomp is specifically designed to detect reverse complementary sequences, it has certain intrinsic capabilities of detecting some types of sequences anomalies such as reverse complementary chimeras, nontarget genes and erroneous reads. In particular, large-scale metagenome sequencing projects that require automated fragment assembly are prone to errors that could be detected by v-revcomp.

tolaasii, which are naturally resistant to phage infection (Munsc

tolaasii, which are naturally resistant to phage infection (Munsch & Olivier, 1995; Yoon et al., 2011). The aim of this study was to isolate bacteriophages that are effective against P. tolaasii and some other pathogenic pseudomonads. The isolation, purification, and host range of these bacteriophages, as well

as the morphology and the complete genome sequence analysis of the Bf7 bacteriophage – having one of the widest host ranges of them – are described. Bacterial strains used for the host range determination of bacteriophages selleck derived from the Belgian Co-ordinated Collections of Micro-organisms (BCCM/LMG, Gent, Belgium), from the Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen GmbH (DSMZ, Braunschweig, Germany), and from decaying sporocarps of oyster mushroom, isolated previously from a Hungarian mushroom farm (Sajben et al.,

2011) (Table 1). Pseudomonas tolaasii MLN2238 manufacturer causes yellowing of the oyster mushroom sporocarp during cultivation; therefore, we used necrotic caps to isolate bacteriophages against the pathogen. Infected mushrooms (5 g of each) were smashed, diluted in 10 mL SM buffer (100 mM NaCl, 8 mM MgSO4, 50 mM Tris–HCl, pH 7.5, and 0.01% gelatin in distilled water), and incubated overnight at 25 °C with gentle agitation. The mushroom particles and bacterial cells were removed by centrifugation at 4000 g for 20 min at 4 °C, then the supernatant was centrifuged at 20 000 g for 60 min at 4 °C to collect the phages. Chloroform was added after the centrifugation to eliminate the residual bacterial cells. 150 μL from this mixture was added to 50 μL of P. tolaasii LMG 2342T culture (OD620 nm = 1) incubated previously at 25 °C for 18 h. The mixture was diluted in 6 mL of soft Triptic Soy Base (TSB) agar (0.7%), overlaid on 2% agar plates and allowed to solidify. The phage plaques were detected after 18 h of incubation at 25 °C. To select for phages with increased host range, these plaques were diluted in SM buffer, and the previously described method was

repeated with a culture of Pseudomonas putida DSM 9278. After this step, the resulting plaques derive from bacteriophages that are able to infect both previously applied pseudomonads. Single plaques were collected, and then phage stocks were prepared using P. putida as an indicator strain and stored at 4 °C. Phage titers were determined Coproporphyrinogen III oxidase by the double agar layer method (Adams, 1959) with minor modifications. Soft TSB with 0.7% agar was used for the top layer. Ten-fold serial dilutions were prepared from the phage lysates and added to the host bacteria. The mixture was poured onto the bottom agar layer consisting of LB medium. Number of plaques was scored after 18–24 h incubation at 25 °C. To evaluate the host range of the isolated phages, a collection of Pseudomonas strains (Table 1) were tested for sensitivity by the spot lysis assay (Day & Marchesi, 1996) performed with minor modifications. Bottom agar layers were prepared with 2% agar without nutrient source.

However, only a small number of genes involved in sporulation hav

However, only a small number of genes involved in sporulation have been identified. To identify genes associated with sporulation, and to understand the relationship find more between sporulation and crystal protein synthesis, a random mariner-based transposon insertion mutant library of B. sphaericus strain 2297 was constructed and seven sporulation-defective mutants were selected. Sequencing of the DNA flanking of the transposon insertion identified several genes involved in sporulation. The morphologies of mutants were determined by electron

microscopy and synthesis of crystal proteins was analyzed by SDS-PAGE and Western blot. Four mutants blocked at early stages of sporulation failed to produce crystal proteins and had lower larvicidal activity. However, the other three mutants were blocked at later stages and were able to form crystal proteins, and the larvicidal activity was similar to wild type. These results indicated that crystal protein synthesis in B. sphaericus is dependent on sporulation initiation. Bacillus sphaericus is a Gram-positive, spore-forming aerobic bacterium (Charles et al., 1996). A number of highly toxic strains of B. sphaericus

can synthesize two crystalline mosquito-larvicidal proteins of 42 kDa (BinA) and 51 kDa (BinB) during sporulation (Baumann et al., 1985). The two proteins act together to function as a binary toxin (Broadwell et al., 1990). Bacillus sphaericus is considered one of the most successful

microbial larvicide MLN8237 and has been commercialized over the past decade (Berry, 2011). Besides being an important bio-insecticide for mosquito control, Methamphetamine B. sphaericus has several important phenotypic properties, including being incapable of polysaccharide utilization and having exclusive metabolic pathways for a wide variety of organic compounds and amino acids (Russell et al., 1989; Han et al., 2007). Bacillus species undergo dramatic morphological, physiological and biochemical changes during sporulation and these changes have been studied in great detail in Bacillus subtilis (Hilbert & Piggot, 2004). In response to starvation, B. subtilis initiates a developmental process by forming an asymmetric septation that divides the bacterium into two asymmetric compartments, the mother cell and forespore. The smaller, forespore compartment develops into the spore, whereas the larger mother cell nurtures the developing forespore. Initially, the forespore and mother cell lie side by side; subsequently, the mother cell engulfs the forespore in a phagocytosis-like process. The engulfed forespore exists as a free-floating protoplast within the mother cell and is enveloped by two membranes, the peptidoglycan cortex layer and the protein coat layer. Ultimately, the spore is released into the environment by lysis of the mother cell. Due to the considerable interest in the use of B.