Editing Bacillus (section)

==Industrial significance==
Many ''Bacillus'' species are able to [[secretion|secrete]] large quantities of enzymes. ''[[Bacillus amyloliquefaciens]]'' is the source of a natural antibiotic protein [[barnase]] (a [[ribonuclease]]), [[alpha amylase]] used in starch hydrolysis, the [[protease]] [[subtilisin]] used with detergents, and the [[BamH1]] [[restriction enzyme]] used in DNA research.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

A portion of the ''[[Bacillus thuringiensis]]'' genome was incorporated into [[Genetically modified maize#Bt corn|corn]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bt.ucsd.edu/bt_history.html |title=History of Bt |publisher=University of California San Diego |access-date=28 June 2024}}</ref> and [[Bt cotton|cotton]]<ref name="James 1996">{{cite web|last=James|first=Clive|title=Global Review of the Field Testing and Commercialization of Transgenic Plants: 1986 to 1995|url=https://www.isaaa.org/resources/publications/briefs/01/download/isaaa-brief-01-1996.pdf|publisher=The International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications|access-date=17 July 2010|year=1996}}</ref> crops. The resulting plants are resistant to some insect pests.<ref>{{cite web| vauthors = Peairs FB |publisher=Colorado State University Extension Office|year= 2013|url=http://extension.colostate.edu/docs/pubs/crops/00707.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://extension.colostate.edu/docs/pubs/crops/00707.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=Bt Corn: Health and the Environment – 0.707}}</ref>

''[[Bacillus subtilis]]'' ([[Nattō|natto]]) is the key microbial participant in the ongoing production of the soya-based traditional natto fermentation, and some ''Bacillus'' species are on the Food and Drug Administration's GRAS (generally regarded as safe) list.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Schallmey |first=Marcus |last2=Singh |first2=Ajay |last3=Ward |first3=Owen P |date=2004-01-01 |title=Developments in the use of Bacillus species for industrial production |url=https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/w03-076 |journal=Canadian Journal of Microbiology |volume=50 |issue=1 |pages=1–17 |doi=10.1139/w03-076 |issn=0008-4166}}</ref>

The capacity of selected ''Bacillus'' strains to produce and secrete large quantities (20–25 g/L) of extracellular enzymes has placed them among the most important industrial enzyme producers.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} The ability of different species to ferment in the acid, neutral, and alkaline pH ranges, combined with the presence of thermophiles in the genus, has led to the development of a variety of new commercial enzyme products with the desired temperature, pH activity, and stability properties to address a variety of specific applications. Classical mutation and (or) selection techniques, together with advanced cloning and protein engineering strategies, have been exploited to develop these products.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

Efforts to produce and secrete high yields of foreign recombinant proteins in ''Bacillus'' hosts initially appeared to be hampered by the degradation of the products by the host proteases.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} Recent studies have revealed that the slow folding of heterologous proteins at the membrane-cell wall interface of Gram-positive bacteria renders them vulnerable to attack by wall-associated proteases.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} In addition, the presence of thiol-disulphide oxidoreductases in ''B. subtilis'' may be beneficial in the secretion of disulphide-bond-containing proteins. Such developments from our understanding of the complex protein translocation machinery of Gram-positive bacteria should allow the resolution of current secretion challenges and make ''Bacillus'' species preeminent hosts for heterologous protein production.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}

''Bacillus'' strains have also been developed and engineered as industrial producers of nucleotides, the vitamin riboflavin, the flavor agent ribose, and the supplement poly-gamma-glutamic acid. With the recent characterization of the genome of ''B. subtilis'' 168 and of some related strains, ''Bacillus'' species are poised to become the preferred hosts for the production of many new and improved products as we move through the genomic and proteomic era.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Schallmey M, Singh A, Ward OP | title = Developments in the use of Bacillus species for industrial production | journal = Canadian Journal of Microbiology | volume = 50 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–17 | date = January 2004 | pmid = 15052317 | doi = 10.1139/w03-076 }}</ref>