Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
The neutral protease gene of Bacillus subtilis has been cloned, and its nucleotide sequence has been determined. The cloned gene was used to create an in vitro-derived deletion mutation, which was used to replace the wild-type copy of the gene. This deletion, in combination with a deletion of the alkaline protease gene, completely abolished protease production. The loss of the proteases had no detectable effect on growth, morphology, or sporulation.
Yang et al. (Mon,) studied this question.