In vivo transposon mutagenesis of Streptomyces sp. Mg1

Abstract

Members of the genus Streptomyces are filamentous and spore forming bacteria that live in soil and aqueous environments. Within these environments, Streptomyces as well as other bacteria play a large role in their environment through their ability to interact by producing various chemical signals. To understand what type of chemical signals bacteria produce in these environments and how their signals affects other bacteria, we have established a model system using two soil bacterium: Streptomyces sp. Mg1 (S. Mg1) and Bacillus subtilis. When wild-type S. Mg1 and B. subtilis are cultured together on an agar surface, noticeable lysis and degradation of the B. subtilis colony is observed. We propose a transposon mutagenesis to identify genes in S. Mg1 related to its ability to lyse and degrade B. subtilis colonies.