Morphological and genomic change in lipase-producing <i>Bacillus licheniformis</i> NCU CS-5 induced by atmospheric room temperature plasma mutagenesis

This study investigates the effects of atmospheric room temperature plasma (ARTP) mutagenesis on the morphological and genetic modifications of the lipase-producing strain <i>Bacillus licheniformis</i> NCU CS-5. While traditional strain improvement methods often suffer from low mutation rates and uneven mutation distribution, ARTP mutagenesis offers a powerful and efficient alternative. The significance of this study lies in its potential to enhance lipase production, a key enzyme in various industrial applications, through the generation of high-performance mutant strains. The gap in existing literature pertains to the limited understanding of ARTP-induced mutations in <i>B. licheniformis</i> and their impact on enzyme production. The novelty of this study is to explore the morphological and genetic changes induced by ARTP and to identify key genetic determinants contributing to these changes. Key findings include significant morphological alterations, higher intracellular Ca²⁺ levels, and numerous single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) and insertions/deletions (InDels) in the mutant strain. These findings imply that ARTP mutagenesis can effectively enhance lipase production, paving the way for optimized industrial microbial strains.