Inhibitory activity of Paenibacillus polymyxa SCE2 against human pathogenic micro-organisms

Paenibacillus polymyxa strain SCE2 was shown to inhibit the growth of different potential human pathogenic bacterial strains and fungi in vitro. To determine the genetic characterization of this antimicrobial substance, strain SCE2 was transformed with plasmid pTV32(Ts), a delivery vector for Tn917-lac. After transposition, four mutants were shown to have lost their capability to inhibit Micrococcus sp. and Staphylococcus aureus RN450, but they continued to inhibit the growth of Corynebacterium fimi NCTC7547 and Escherichia coli HB101. Hybridization experiments using the DNA of the four mutants digested with different endonucleases and pTV32(Ts) as a probe showed that the place of insertion of Tn917-lac in the chromosome was the same in mutants 4 and 36 and in mutants 31 and 59, but different between these pairs. It is thought possible that more than one antimicrobial substance is being produced by strain SCE2.