TABLE 1.

Plasmids, B. subtilis strains, and oligonucleotides used in this study

Plasmid, strain, or oligonucleotide	Relevant construction, genotype, or sequence (5′-3′)	Source or referenceb
Plasmids
pBluescript II KS(+)	Multipurpose cloning/in vitro transcription phagemid vector, bla	Stratagene
pMAD	Plasmid used for allelic replacement in Gram-positive bacteria, bla, erm	2
pLitmus29	Multipurpose cloning/in vitro transcription phagemid vector, bla	New England Biolabs
pMS38	pLitmus29 derivative used as a source of chloramphenicol resistance cassette, bla, cat	35
pJL3	pLitmus29 derivative used as a source of kanamycin resistance cassette, bla, kan	This work
pMJ1	pBluescript II KS(+) derivative harboring the msmX coding region, bla	This work
pMJ2	pMJ1 derivative used for the creation of msmX-null mutations, bla, cat	This work
pMJ6	pMAD derivative used for the creation of araN in-frame deletion mutants, bla, erm	This work
pMJ7	pBluescript II KS(+) derivative harboring the promoterless araE coding region, bla	This work
pMJ10	Integrative plasmid used for the creation of area-null mutations, bla, kan	This work
pMJ11	Integrative plasmid used for the creation of araNPQ in-frame deletion mutants, bla, erm	This work
B. subtilis strains
168T+	Prototroph	F. E. Young
IQB206	ΔaraL-abfA::spc	23
IQB495	ΔmsmX::cat	pMJ2a→168T+
IQB496	ΔaraN	pMJ6→168T+
IQB608	araE::kan	pMJ10a→168T+
IQB609	ΔmsmX::cat araE::kan	pMJ10a→IQB495
IQB610	ΔaraN araE::kan	pMJ10a→IQB496
IQB611	ΔaraNPQ	pMJ11→168T+
Oligonucleotides
ARA422	TATTGAGCTCTCAGGGATAGATATCAAATCG
ARA423	CATCGGTACCATTCTGAGATTTTCAATAGC
ARA426	GCGGATCCCTTTGGTGACATGCTCGG
ARA427	CGCTTTCACTTTTTGAATGGGCTGCGTTACCCCTTCCATTCGAGGTGCGGG
ARA428	CCCGCACCTCGAATGGAAGGGGTAACGCAGCCCATTCAAAAAGTGAAAGCG
ARA429	GCTTAGTACTGCTCTTTCGGCACATTTTGC
ARA448	GATAAAGTACTTTTCGAAAAAAGTCATTTTTTTCATCTGCGTTACCCCTTC
ARA449	GAAGGGGTAACGCAGATGAAAAAAATGACTTTTTTCCAAAAGTACTTTATC
ARA450	GGCATGCGCATGTTTGAGCTGCCGCAGGC
ARA467	CCAGCAATATTTTATCC
ARA488	CAAATTTCGGTACCTCACAGCG

^aTransformation was carried out with linearized DNA. The restriction sites used are underlined.

^bThe arrows indicate transformation and point from donor DNA to the recipient strain.