Isolation and Identification of Lipopeptides of Bacillus subtilis 26D

Among the wide range of biologically active substances secreted by endophytic bacteria, lipopeptides are of considerable interest. The presence of lipopeptide synthetase genes responsible for their synthesis in bacteria of the endophytic strain Bacillus subtilis 26D was analyzed. A lipopeptide-rich fraction was isolated from the culture medium of B. subtilis 26D. Analysis of the lipopeptide composition via thin-layer chromatography (TLC) revealed the presence of surfactin in the B. subtilis 26D strain, which is confirmed by the presence of the surfactin-synthetase gene in the genome of this bacterial strain. High-performance chromatography (HPLC) with mass spectrometric analysis showed the presence of two varieties of surfactin (C13 and C15).