Molecular Detection and Occurrence of Lipopeptide Biosurfactant Genes in Different Bacillus Related Species

Bacillus-related species is one of the most studied and identified bacteria with a higher ability to pro¬duce metabolite products. Among various metabolites produced by many strains of Bacillus-related species are lipopeptides. The current study aimed to molecularly screen Bacillus-related bacteria isolated from various soils in Basrah Province for the presence of surfactin, iturin C, bacillomycin, and fengycins genes using a molecular tool based on PCR technique. Forty-four isolates belong the genera Bacillus, Cytobacil¬lus, Priestia, and Peribacillus were reported in the collected soils from various locations of the province of Basrah. The sfp genes were detected in 43.18% of Bacillus-related isolates, and the most frequently detect¬ed in B. subtilis. ituC genes were detected in 47.72% of Bacillus-related isolates, and the most frequently detected in B. licheniformis. The bam genes were detected in 20.45% of Bacillus-related isolates and the most frequently detected in B. licheniformis. fenD genes were detected in 29.54% of Bacillus-related iso¬lates and the most frequently detected in B. licheniformis. ituC and sfp genes were the most frequently detected 47.72% and 43.18% respectively, followed by fenD 29.54%, whereas bamC 20.45% was the less frequent gene. One isolate had all the biosynthetic lipopeptides genes, 7 isolates had 3 genes, 12 isolates had 2 genes and 13 isolates had 1 gene simultaneously, while 11 of the isolates did not report the presence of any biosynthetic lipopeptides genes. B. licheniformis was the most frequently isolated reported presence of biosynthetic lipopeptides genes followed by B. subtilis.