TABLE 1.

B. subtilis strains

Strain	Relevant genotype	Reference
YB955	hisC952 metB5 leuC427 xin-1 SpβSENS	81
YB9000	YB955 carrying ΔcomA::tet (comA gene distrupted with a tetracycline cassette)	27, 28; also see Materials and Methods
YB9100	YB955 carrying ΔcomK::kan	See Materials and Methods
YB9102	YB955 carrying ΔsigB::cat (transformed with PB105 genomic DNA in order to disrupt the sigB gene)	4; also see Materials and Methods
YB9200	YB955 carrying both ΔcomA::tet and ΔcomK::kan gene disruptions	See Materials and Methods
YB9300	YB955 carrying ΔrecA::cat (recA gene disrupted by a chloramphenicol cassette)	13; also see Materials and Methods