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Updated: May 8, 2026

Single-cell Analysis of Bacillus subtilis Biofilms Using Fluorescence Microscopy and Flow Cytometry
Published on: February 15, 2012
Genes encoding the production of extracellular polysaccharide bioflocculant are clustered on a 30-kb DNA segment in
1Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, People's Republic of China.
Abstract:
Bioflocculants are special high-molecular weight polymers produced by microorganisms. Despite the fact that several types of bioflocculants from different species of bacteria have been reported, there is a large gap in our knowledge regarding the molecular machine responsible for the production of bioflocculants. To investigate genes involved in bioflocculant synthesis, a fosmid library was generated from Bacillus licheniformis genomic DNA and screened for the production of bioflocculant. Four positive clones with distinct flocculation were isolated by a two-pooling scheme. The clone with 662 U ml(-1) flocculating activity was sequenced. As a result, a 30-kb fragment with 26 hypothetical genes was identified in the bioflocculant-producing clone. Most of the predicted proteins encoded by the inserted genes showed significant homology with enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of polysaccharide. Based on these homologies, a biosynthesis pathway and two gene clusters involved in the production of the polysaccharide bioflocculant were proposed with the integration of functional descriptions of individual genes by metabolic databases, and a glucose-sensitive glycosidases was predicted. This research supplied significant data for potential application of bioflocculant-producing strains in wastewater refining and industrial downstream treatments.
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