ABSTRACT
Many B. subtilis strains produce a small peptides with a long fatty moiety, the so-called lipopeptide antibiotics. On the basis of the structural relationships, the lipopeptides that have been identified in B. subtilis are generally classified into three groups: the surfactin group, the plipastatin–fengycin group, and the iturin group. Luria-Bertani medium was used for cultivation of Escherichia coli and B. subtilis. Many B. subtilis strains simultaneously produce some lipopeptide antibiotics, whose peptide moiety is synthesized nonribosomally by large template enzyme complexes. Such lipopeptide antibiotics identified thus far have been divided into three groups according to their structure, as follows: the surfactin group, the plipastatin and fengycin group and the iturin group. Several genes are thought to be involved in antibiotic production: for example, regulator genes that control the conditional expression of antibiotic synthetase genes; antibiotic synthetase or structural genes; modification genes; and self-resistance, or efflux pump, genes.
