Two alkaline phosphatase genes positioned in tandem in Bacillus licheniformis MC14 require different RNA polymerase holoenzymes for transcription.

Southern transfer analysis of Bacillus licheniformis MC14 DNA, using as probe a DNA fragment from within the coding region of a previously cloned alkaline phosphatase (APase) gene, revealed a second area of hybridization adjacent to the cloned APase gene. A second APase gene (APase II) was subcloned from the same plasmid clone, pMH8, from which the first APase gene (APase I) had been subcloned. The two genes are arranged in tandem with several hundred base pairs separating them. Immunoblot analysis showed that both code for Mr 60,000 proteins that crossreact with anti-APase. Both proteins enzymatically cleave 5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl phosphate. In vitro transcription showed that APase I and APase II are transcribed in the same direction but that the two genes require different forms of Bacillus RNA polymerase: sigma 55- and sigma 37-containing RNA polymerase holoenzymes, respectively.