Improvement of Bacteriocin Production by Bacillus subtilis NK16via Elicitation with Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Microbial Cells

Abstract

Since microorganisms normally exist with other species in nature, they have developed complex metabolic as a result of such interspecies interactions. Our strategy for the elicitation of Bacillus subtilisNK16 presented in this study is based on utilizing some aspects of these interactions by introducing microbial cells to Bacillus subtilis NK16 culture in order to enhance bacteriocin production. Elicitation experiments were carried out by introducing live and dead cells as well as culture supernatant of live and dead cells of Staph. aureus, Bacillus sp and E. coli as prokaryotic cells and Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Aspergillus niger as eukaryotic cells separately to the Bacillus subtilis NK16 culture at zero time. Based on the results obtained in this study, Bacillus subtilis NK16 increased its production of bacteriocin as a result of interaction with microbial elicitor cells. The maximum enhancement was achieved in the culture elicited with live cells of Staph. aureus at an inoculation level of 0.5% with an increase of approximately 8-folds.