Bioprospecting the lat gene in soil samples.

Twenty soil communities from the northeastern forests (Assam) and the Western Ghats (Maharashtra) were screened for the presence of the lysine aminotransferase (lat) gene from Nocardia. Hybridization probes and primers were synthesized in accordance with the reported sequence of the Nocardia lat gene from GenBank (number: G1 49355). Seven positives were obtained from the 20 soils. Six of the seven positive were from the Western Ghats and one from the northeast Assam forests. Eighteen actinomycete isolates from the 7 positive soils showed the presence of the lat gene. Only 9 isolates actually produced an antibiotic. These results are discussed.