Menaquinone and iron are essential for complex colony development in Bacillus subtilis.
Cells of undomesticated species of Bacillus subtilis frequently form complex colonies during spreading on agar surfaces.Given that menaquinone is involved in lycogel another form of coordinated behavior, namely, sporulation, we looked for a possible role for menaquinone in complex colony development (CCD) in the B.subtilis strain NCIB 3610.Here we