TABLE 1.

Strains, plasmids, and primers used in this study

Strain, plasmid, or primer	Description or sequencea	Reference or source
Strains
B. megaterium DSM319	Wild-type strain	9
B. megaterium WH321	Genomic xylR mutant	32
B. megaterium WH377	Genomic xylT mutant	31
B. subtilis DSM402	B. subtilis subsp. subtilis strain 168 carrying the pBC16 plasmid (DSM23521)	DSMZb
Plasmids
pSSBm85	Promoter-optimized shuttle vector for xylose-inducible production of GFP; PxylA-gfp	10
pRBBm99	Derivative of pSSBm85 lacking xylR and PxylA-gfp	This work
pKMMBm1	XmaI site introduced at the 5′ end of xylR, and xylR stop codon replaced with a KpnI site, in pSSBm85	This work
pKMMBm2	mCherry cloned into KpnI and AflII sites of pKMMBm1; xylR-mCherry fusion	This work
pKMMBm5	pSSBm85 ΔxylR mutant	This work
pJS72	pETDuet vector (Novagen) containing mCherry	14
pBC16	Natural plasmid isolate originating from Bacillus cereus, precursor for pSSBm85	26
Primers
xylR-mCherry_for	5′-TATCAGGTACCGTGAGCAAGGGCGAGGAG-3′	This work
xylR-mCherry_rev	5′-TATCACTTAAGTTACTTGTACAGCTCGTCCATG-3′	This work
xylT_for	5′-CGGAGGGTTACTGTTTGGATATGAC-3′	This work
xylT_rev	5′-CCGTGTGCTAAAGATCCTAACCCTA-3′	This work
xylR_for	5′-GCCTTGTAGATCGTCATCAGCAAA-3′	This work
xylR_rev	5′-CGTATGCTCCTGCATTAGCTTCAT-3′	This work
gfp_for	5′-TCTCGGACACAAACTCGAGTACAAC-3′	This work
gfp_rev	5′-CTGCTAGTTGAACGGATCCATCTTC-3′	This work
rpoB_for	5′-GGCGACGAAGTAGTAAAAGGTGAGA-3′	This work
rpoB_rev	5′-GGCATCCTCATAGTTGTAACCATCC-3′	This work
gyrB_for	5′-TACATGGTGTAGGTGCCTCAGTTGT-3′	This work
gyrB_rev	5′-ACTTTTAAGTCAGCAGCCGGTACAC-3′	This work
heli1_for	5′-GATGTAATCCATACGTCAGCTGTGC-3′	This work
heli1_rev	5′-CCGGCTTCCTTGATTTATAACTGG-3′	This work
heli2_for	5′-GTCGAACCTGTACACGGTGACTTTT-3′	This work
heli2_rev	5′-GCTTCCGTAATAGGTCTGTTCATGC-3′	This work

^aIn primer sequences, specific restriction enzymes used for cloning are underlined.

^bDSMZ, German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures.