''Bacillus'' (Latin "stick") is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

Gram-positive In bacteriology, gram-positive bacteria are bacteria that give a positive result in the Gram stain test, which is traditionally used to quickly classify bacteria into two broad categories according to their type of cell wall. Gram-positive bact ...

, rod-shaped

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were am ...

, a member of the phylum '' Bacillota'', with 266 named

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

. The term is also used to describe the shape (rod) of other so-shaped bacteria; and the plural ''Bacilli'' is the name of the

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differently ...

of bacteria to which this genus belongs. ''Bacillus'' species can be either

obligate aerobe An obligate aerobe is an organism that requires oxygen to grow. Through cellular respiration, these organisms use oxygen to metabolise substances, like sugars or fats, to obtain energy. In this type of respiration, oxygen serves as the terminal ...

s which are dependent on

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements ...

, or facultative anaerobes which can survive in the absence of oxygen. Cultured ''Bacillus'' species test positive for the

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products ...

catalase Catalase is a common enzyme found in nearly all living organisms exposed to oxygen (such as bacteria, plants, and animals) which catalyzes the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen. It is a very important enzyme in protecting t ...

if oxygen has been used or is present. ''Bacillus'' can reduce themselves to oval

endospore An endospore is a dormant, tough, and non-reproductive structure produced by some bacteria in the phylum Bacillota. The name "endospore" is suggestive of a spore or seed-like form (''endo'' means 'within'), but it is not a true spore (i.e., n ...

s and can remain in this dormant state for years. The endospore of one species from Morocco is reported to have survived being heated to 420 °C. Endospore formation is usually triggered by a lack of nutrients: the bacterium divides within its cell wall, and one side then engulfs the other. They are not true

spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, ...

s (i.e., not an offspring). Endospore formation originally defined the genus, but not all such species are closely related, and many species have been moved to other genera of the ''Bacillota''. Only one endospore is formed per cell. The spores are resistant to heat, cold, radiation, desiccation, and disinfectants. ''Bacillus anthracis'' needs oxygen to sporulate; this constraint has important consequences for epidemiology and control. In vivo, ''B. anthracis'' produces a polypeptide (polyglutamic acid) capsule that kills it from phagocytosis. The genera ''Bacillus'' and ''Clostridium'' constitute the family ''Bacillaceae''. Species are identified by using morphologic and biochemical criteria. Because the spores of many ''Bacillus'' species are resistant to heat, radiation, disinfectants, and desiccation, they are difficult to eliminate from medical and pharmaceutical materials and are a frequent cause of contamination. Not only are they resistant to heat, radiation, etc., but they are also resistant to chemicals such as antibiotics. This resistance allows them to survive for many years and especially in a controlled environment. ''Bacillus'' species are well known in the food industries as troublesome spoilage organisms. Ubiquitous in nature, ''Bacillus'' includes

symbiotic Symbiosis (from Greek , , "living together", from , , "together", and , bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or para ...

(sometimes referred to as endophytes) as well as independent species. Two

parasitic Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson ha ...

pathogen In biology, a pathogen ( el, πάθος, "suffering", "passion" and , "producer of") in the oldest and broadest sense, is any organism or agent that can produce disease. A pathogen may also be referred to as an infectious agent, or simply a g ...

ic species are medically significant: '' B. anthracis'' causes

anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The s ...

; and '' B. cereus'' causes

food poisoning Foodborne illness (also foodborne disease and food poisoning) is any illness resulting from the spoilage of contaminated food by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites that contaminate food, as well as prions (the agents of mad cow disea ...

. Many species of ''Bacillus'' can produce copious amounts of enzymes, which are used in various industries, such as in the production of alpha amylase used in starch hydrolysis and the

protease A protease (also called a peptidase, proteinase, or proteolytic enzyme) is an enzyme that catalyzes (increases reaction rate or "speeds up") proteolysis, breaking down proteins into smaller polypeptides or single amino acids, and spurring the ...

subtilisin Subtilisin is a protease (a protein-digesting enzyme) initially obtained from '' Bacillus subtilis''. Subtilisins belong to subtilases, a group of serine proteases that – like all serine proteases – initiate the nucleophilic attack on t ...

used in

detergent A detergent is a surfactant or a mixture of surfactants with cleansing properties when in dilute solutions. There are a large variety of detergents, a common family being the alkylbenzene sulfonates, which are soap-like compounds that are m ...

s. ''

B. subtilis ''Bacillus subtilis'', known also as the hay bacillus or grass bacillus, is a Gram-positive, catalase-positive bacterium, found in soil and the gastrointestinal tract of ruminants, humans and marine sponges. As a member of the genus ''Bacillus' ...

'' is a valuable model for bacterial research. Some ''Bacillus'' species can synthesize and secrete lipopeptides, in particular surfactins and mycosubtilins. ''Bacillus'' species are also found in marine

sponge Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate throu ...

s. Marine sponge associated ''Bacillus subtilis'' (strains WS1A and YBS29) can synthesize several antimicrobial peptides. These ''Bacillus subtilis'' strains can develop disease resistance in '' Labeo rohita''.

Structure

Cell wall

The cell wall of ''Bacillus'' is a structure on the outside of the cell that forms the second barrier between the bacterium and the environment, and at the same time maintains the rod shape and withstands the pressure generated by the cell's

turgor Turgor pressure is the force within the cell that pushes the plasma membrane against the cell wall. It is also called ''hydrostatic pressure'', and is defined as the pressure in a fluid measured at a certain point within itself when at equilibri ...

. The cell wall is made of teichoic and teichuronic acids. ''B. subtilis'' is the first bacterium for which the role of an

actin Actin is a family of globular multi-functional proteins that form microfilaments in the cytoskeleton, and the thin filaments in muscle fibrils. It is found in essentially all eukaryotic cells, where it may be present at a concentration of ov ...

-like

cytoskeleton The cytoskeleton is a complex, dynamic network of interlinking protein filaments present in the cytoplasm of all cells, including those of bacteria and archaea. In eukaryotes, it extends from the cell nucleus to the cell membrane and is co ...

in cell shape determination and peptidoglycan synthesis was identified and for which the entire set of peptidoglycan-synthesizing enzymes was localized. The role of the cytoskeleton in shape generation and maintenance is important. ''Bacillus'' species are rod-shaped, endospore-forming aerobic or facultatively anaerobic, Gram-positive bacteria; in some species cultures may turn Gram-negative with age. The many species of the genus exhibit a wide range of physiologic abilities that allow them to live in every natural environment. Only one endospore is formed per cell. The spores are resistant to heat, cold, radiation, desiccation, and disinfectants.

Origin of name

The genus ''Bacillus'' was named in 1835 by

Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg (19 April 1795 – 27 June 1876) was a German naturalist, zoologist, comparative anatomist, geologist, and microscopist. Ehrenberg was an evangelist and was considered to be of the most famous and productive scient ...

, to contain rod-shaped (bacillus) bacteria. He had seven years earlier named the genus ''

Bacterium Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were am ...

''. ''Bacillus'' was later amended by

Ferdinand Cohn Ferdinand Julius Cohn (24 January 1828 – 25 June 1898) was a German biologist. He is one of the founders of modern bacteriology and microbiology. Ferdinand J. Cohn was born in the Jewish quarter of Breslau in the Prussian Province of Sil ...

to further describe them as spore-forming, Gram-positive, aerobic or facultatively anaerobic bacteria. Like other genera associated with the early history of microbiology, such as ''

Pseudomonas ''Pseudomonas'' is a genus of Gram-negative, Gammaproteobacteria, belonging to the family Pseudomonadaceae and containing 191 described species. The members of the genus demonstrate a great deal of metabolic diversity and consequently are able t ...

'' and '' Vibrio'', the 266 species of ''Bacillus'' are ubiquitous. The genus has a very large

ribosomal Ribosomes ( ) are macromolecular machines, found within all cells, that perform biological protein synthesis (mRNA translation). Ribosomes link amino acids together in the order specified by the codons of messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules to for ...

16S diversity.

Isolation and identification

Established methods for isolating ''Bacillus'' species for culture primarily involve suspension of sampled soil in distilled water, heat shock to kill off vegetative cells leaving primarily viable spores in the sample, and culturing on agar plates with further tests to confirm the identity of the cultured colonies. Additionally, colonies which exhibit characteristics typical of ''Bacillus'' bacteria can be selected from a culture of an environmental sample which has been significantly diluted following heat shock or hot air drying to select potential ''Bacillus'' bacteria for testing. Cultured colonies are usually large, spreading, and irregularly shaped. Under the microscope, the ''Bacillus'' cells appear as rods, and a substantial portion of the cells usually contain oval

s at one end, making them bulge.

Characteristics of ''Bacillus'' spp.

S.I. Paul et al. (2021) isolated and identified multiple strains of ''Bacillus'' species (strain
WS1AYBS29KSP163AOA122ISP161AOI6WS11KSP151ES8
from marine sponges of the

Saint Martin's Island Saint Martin Island ( bn, সেন্টমার্টিন দ্বীপ) is a small island (area only 3 km2) in the northeastern part of the Bay of Bengal, about 9 km south of the tip of the Cox's Bazar- Teknaf peninsula, and f ...

Area of the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line bet ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mo ...

. Based on their study, colony, morphological, physiological, and biochemical characteristics of ''Bacillus'' spp. are shown in the Table below. Note: + = Positive, – =Negative, O= Oxidative, F= Fermentative

Phylogeny

Three proposals have been presented as representing the phylogeny of the genus ''Bacillus''. The first proposal, presented in 2003, is a ''Bacillus''-specific study, with the most diversity covered using 16S and the ITS regions. It divides the genus into 10 groups. This includes the nested genera '' Paenibacillus,

Brevibacillus ''Brevibacillus'' is a genus of Gram-positive bacteria in the family Paenibacillaceae The Paenibacillaceae are a family of Gram-positive In bacteriology, gram-positive bacteria are bacteria that give a positive result in the Gram stain te ...

Geobacillus ''Geobacillus'' is a bacterial genus from the family of Bacillaceae The Bacillaceae are a family of gram-positive, heterotrophic, rod-shaped bacteria that may produce endospores. Motile members of this family are characterized by peritrichou ...

, Marinibacillus'' and '' Virgibacillus''. The second proposal, presented in 2008, constructed a 16S (and 23S if available) tree of all validated species. The genus ''Bacillus'' contains a very large number of nested taxa and majorly in both 16S and 23S. It is

paraphyletic In taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In ...

to the

Lactobacillales Lactobacillales are an order of gram-positive, low-GC, acid-tolerant, generally nonsporulating, nonrespiring, either rod-shaped (bacilli) or spherical (cocci) bacteria that share common metabolic and physiological characteristics. These bac ...

(''Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Listeria'', etc.), due to '' Bacillus coahuilensis'' and others. A third proposal, presented in 2010, was a gene

concatenation In formal language theory and computer programming, string concatenation is the operation of joining character strings end-to-end. For example, the concatenation of "snow" and "ball" is "snowball". In certain formalisations of concatenat ...

study, and found results similar to the 2008 proposal, but with a much more limited number of species in terms of groups. (This scheme used ''Listeria'' as an outgroup, so in light of the ARB tree, it may be "inside-out"). One clade, formed by ''Bacillus anthracis'', ''Bacillus cereus'', ''Bacillus mycoides'', ''Bacillus pseudomycoides'', ''Bacillus thuringiensis'', and ''Bacillus weihenstephanensis'' under the 2011 classification standards, should be a single species (within 97% 16S identity), but due to medical reasons, they are considered separate species (an issue also present for four species of ''

Shigella ''Shigella'' is a genus of bacteria that is Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, non-spore-forming, nonmotile, rod-shaped, and genetically closely related to '' E. coli''. The genus is named after Kiyoshi Shiga, who first discovered it in ...

'' and ''

Escherichia coli ''Escherichia coli'' (),Wells, J. C. (2000) Longman Pronunciation Dictionary. Harlow ngland Pearson Education Ltd. also known as ''E. coli'' (), is a Gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, coliform bacterium of the genus '' Esc ...

''). A phylogenomic study of 1104 ''Bacillus'' proteomes was based on 114 core proteins and delineated the relationships among the various species, defined as ''Bacillus'' from the NCBI taxonomy. The various strains were clustered into species, based on Average Nucleotide identity (ANI) values, with a species cutoff of 95%.

Species

* '' B. Symun'' * '' B. acidicola'' * '' B. acidiproducens'' * '' B. acidocaldarius'' * '' B. acidoterrestris'' * '' B. aeolius'' * '' B. aerius'' * '' B. aerophilus'' * '' B. agaradhaerens'' * '' B. agri'' * '' B. aidingensis'' * '' B. akibai'' * '' B. albus'' * '' B. alcalophlus'' * '' B. algicola''i * '' B. alginolyticus'' * '' B. alkalidiazotrophicus'' * '' B. alkalinitrilicus'' * '' B. alkalisediminis'' * '' B. alkalitelluris'' * '' B. altitudinis'' * '' B. alveayuensis'' * '' B. alvei'' * '' B. amyloliquefaciens'' ** ''B. a. ''subsp.'' amyloliquefaciens'' ** ''B. a. ''subsp.'' plantarum'' * '' B. aminovorans'' * '' B. amylolyticus'' * '' B. andreesenii'' * '' B. aneurinilyticus'' * '' B. anthracis'' * '' B. aquimaris'' * '' B. arenosi'' * '' B. arseniciselenatis'' * '' B. arsenicus'' * '' B. aurantiacus'' * '' B. arvi'' * '' B. aryabhattai'' * '' B. asahii'' * '' B. atrophaeus'' * '' B. axarquiensis'' * '' B. azotofixans'' * '' B. azotoformans'' * '' B. badius'' * '' B. barbaricus'' * '' B. bataviensis'' * '' B. beijingensis'' * '' B. benzoevorans'' * '' B. beringensis'' * '' B. berkeleyi'' * '' B. beveridgei'' * '' B. bogoriensis'' * '' B. boroniphilus'' * '' B. borstelensis'' * '' B. brevis'' * '' B. butanolivorans'' * '' B. canaveralius'' * '' B. carboniphilus'' * '' B. cecembensis'' * '' B. cellulosilyticus'' * '' B. centrosporus'' * '' B. cereus'' * '' B. chagannorensis'' * '' B. chitinolyticus'' * '' B. chondroitinus'' * '' B. choshinensis'' * '' B. chungangensis'' * '' B. cibi'' * '' B. circulans'' * '' B. clarkii'' * '' B. clausii'' * '' B. coagulans'' * '' B. coahuilensis'' * '' B. cohnii'' * '' B. composti'' * '' B. curdlanolyticus'' * '' B. cycloheptanicus'' * '' B. cytotoxicus'' * '' B. daliensis'' * '' B. decisifrondis'' * '' B. decolorationis'' * '' B. deserti'' * '' B. dipsosauri'' * '' B. drentensis'' * '' B. edaphicus'' * '' B. ehimensis'' * '' B. eiseniae'' * '' B. enclensis'' * '' B. endophyticus'' * '' B. endoradicis'' * '' B. farraginis'' * '' B. fastidiosus'' * '' B. fengqiuensis'' * '' B. filobacterium rodentuim'' * '' B. firmus'' * '' B. flexus'' * '' B. foraminis'' * '' B. fordii'' * '' B. formosus'' * '' B. fortis'' * '' B. fumarioli'' * '' B. funiculus'' * '' B. fusiformis'' * '' B. gaemokensis'' * '' B. galactophilus'' * '' B. galactosidilyticus'' * '' B. galliciensis'' * '' B. gelatini'' * '' B. gibsonii'' * '' B. ginsengi'' * '' B. ginsengihumi'' * '' B. ginsengisoli'' * '' B. glucanolyticus'' * '' B. gordonae'' * '' B. gottheilii'' * '' B. graminis'' * '' B. halmapalus'' * '' B. haloalkaliphilus'' * '' B. halochares'' * '' B. halodenitrificans'' * '' B. halodurans'' * '' B. halophilus'' * '' B. halosaccharovorans'' * '' B. hemicellulosilyticus'' * '' B. hemicentroti'' * '' B. herbersteinensis'' * '' B. horikoshii'' * '' B. horneckiae'' * '' B. horti'' * '' B. huizhouensis'' * '' B. humi'' * '' B. hwajinpoensis'' * '' B. idriensis'' * '' B. indicus'' * '' B. infantis'' * '' B. infernus'' * '' B. insolitus'' * '' B. invictae'' * '' B. iranensis'' * '' B. isabeliae'' * '' B. isronensis'' * '' B. jeotgali'' * '' B. kaustophilus'' * '' B. kobensis'' * '' B. kochii'' * '' B. kokeshiiformis'' * '' B. koreensis'' * '' B. korlensis'' * '' B. kribbensis'' * '' B. krulwichiae'' * '' B. laevolacticus'' * '' B. larvae'' * '' B. laterosporus'' * '' B. lautus'' * '' B. lehensis'' * '' B. lentimorbus'' * '' B. lentus'' * '' B. licheniformis'' * '' B. ligniniphilus'' * '' B. litoralis'' * '' B. locisalis'' * '' B. luciferensis'' * '' B. luteolus'' * '' B. luteus'' * '' B. macauensis'' * '' B. macerans'' * '' B. macquariensis'' * '' B. macyae'' * '' B. malacitensis'' * '' B. mannanilyticus'' * '' B. marisflavi'' * '' B. marismortui'' * '' B. marmarensis'' * '' B. massiliensis'' * '' B. megaterium'' * "'' B. mesentericus''" * '' B. mesonae'' * '' B. methanolicus'' * '' B. methylotrophicus'' * '' B. migulanus'' * '' B. mojavensis'' * '' B. mucilaginosus'' * '' B. muralis'' * '' B. murimartini'' * '' B. mycoides'' * '' B. naganoensis'' * '' B. nanhaiensis'' * '' B. nanhaiisediminis'' * '' B. nealsonii'' * '' B. neidei'' * '' B. neizhouensis'' * '' B. niabensis'' * '' B. niacini'' * '' B. novalis'' * '' B. oceanisediminis'' * '' B. odysseyi'' * '' B. okhensis'' * '' B. okuhidensis'' * '' B. oleronius'' * '' B. oryzaecorticis'' * '' B. oshimensis'' * '' B. pabuli'' * '' B. pakistanensis'' * '' B. pallidus'' * '' B. pallidus'' * '' B. panacisoli'' * '' B. panaciterrae'' * '' B. pantothenticus'' * '' B. parabrevis'' * '' B. paraflexus'' * '' B. pasteurii'' * '' B. patagoniensis'' * '' B. peoriae'' * '' B. persepolensis'' * '' B. persicus'' * '' B. pervagus'' * '' B. plakortidis'' * '' B. pocheonensis'' * '' B. polygoni'' * '' B. polymyxa'' * '' B. popilliae'' * '' B. pseudalcalophilus'' * '' B. pseudofirmus'' * '' B. pseudomycoides'' * '' B. psychrodurans'' * '' B. psychrophilus'' * '' B. psychrosaccharolyticus'' * '' B. psychrotolerans'' * '' B. pulvifaciens'' * '' B. pumilus'' * '' B. purgationiresistens'' * '' B. pycnus'' * '' B. qingdaonensis'' * '' B. qingshengii'' * '' B. reuszeri'' * '' B. rhizosphaerae'' * '' B. rigui'' * '' B. ruris'' * '' B. safensis'' * '' B. salarius'' * '' B. salexigens'' * '' B. saliphilus'' * '' B. schlegelii'' * '' B. sediminis'' * '' B. selenatarsenatis'' * '' B. selenitireducens'' * '' B. seohaeanensis'' * '' B. shacheensis'' * '' B. shackletonii'' * '' B. siamensis'' * '' B. silvestris'' * '' B. simplex'' * '' B. siralis'' * '' B. smithii'' * '' B. soli'' * '' B. solimangrovi'' * '' B. solisalsi'' * '' B. songklensis'' * '' B. sonorensis'' * '' B. sphaericus'' * '' B. sporothermodurans'' * '' B. stearothermophilus'' * '' B. stratosphericus'' * '' B. subterraneus'' * ''

'' ** ''B. s. ''subsp.'' inaquosorum'' ** ''B. s. ''subsp.'' spizizenii'' ** ''B. s. ''subsp.'' subtilis'' * '' B. taeanensis'' * '' B. tequilensis'' * '' B. thermantarcticus'' * '' B. thermoaerophilus'' * '' B. thermoamylovorans'' * '' B. thermocatenulatus'' * '' B. thermocloacae'' * '' B. thermocopriae'' * '' B. thermodenitrificans'' * '' B. thermoglucosidasius'' * '' B. thermolactis'' * '' B. thermoleovorans'' * '' B. thermophilus'' * '' B. thermoproteolyticus'' * '' B. thermoruber'' * '' B. thermosphaericus'' * '' B. thiaminolyticus'' * '' B. thioparans'' * '' B. thuringiensis'' * '' B. tianshenii'' * '' B. trypoxylicola'' * '' B. tusciae'' * '' B. validus'' * '' B. vallismortis'' * '' B. vedderi'' * '' B. velezensis'' * '' B. vietnamensis'' * '' B. vireti'' * '' B. vulcani'' * '' B. wakoensis'' * '' B. xiamenensis'' * '' B. xiaoxiensis'' * '' B. zanthoxyli'' * '' B. zhanjiangensis

Ecological and clinical significance

''Bacillus'' species are ubiquitous in nature, e.g. in soil. They can occur in extreme environments such as high pH ('' B. alcalophilus''), high temperature ('' B. thermophilus''), and high salt concentrations ('' B. halodurans''). They also are very commonly found as endophytes in plants where they can play a critical role in their

immune system The immune system is a network of biological processes that protects an organism from diseases. It detects and responds to a wide variety of pathogens, from viruses to parasitic worms, as well as cancer cells and objects such as wood splinte ...

, nutrient absorption and

nitrogen fixing Nitrogen fixation is a chemical process by which molecular nitrogen (), with a strong triple covalent bond, in the air is converted into ammonia () or related nitrogenous compounds, typically in soil or aquatic systems but also in industry. Atmo ...

capabilities. '' B. thuringiensis'' produces a toxin that can kill insects and thus has been used as insecticide. ''B. siamensis'' has antimicrobial compounds that inhibit plant pathogens, such as the fungi ''

Rhizoctonia solani ''Rhizoctonia solani'' is a species of fungus in the order Cantharellales. Basidiocarps (fruit bodies) are thin, effused, and web-like, but the fungus is more typically encountered in its anamorphic state, as hyphae and sclerotia. The name '' ...

'' and ''

Botrytis cinerea ''Botrytis cinerea'' is a necrotrophic fungus that affects many plant species, although its most notable hosts may be wine grapes. In viticulture, it is commonly known as "botrytis bunch rot"; in horticulture, it is usually called "grey mould" or ...

'', and they promote plant growth by volatile emissions. Some species of ''Bacillus'' are naturally

competent Competence may refer to: *Competence (geology), the resistance of a rock against deformation or plastic flow. *Competence (human resources), a standardized requirement for an individual to properly perform a specific job *Competence (law), the me ...

for DNA uptake by transformation. *Two ''Bacillus'' species are medically significant: '' B. anthracis'', which causes

; and '' B. cereus'', which causes

, with symptoms similar to that caused by ''

Staphylococcus ''Staphylococcus'' is a genus of Gram-positive bacteria in the family Staphylococcaceae from the order Bacillales. Under the microscope, they appear spherical ( cocci), and form in grape-like clusters. ''Staphylococcus'' species are faculta ...

''. **''B. cereus'' produces toxins which cause two different set of symptoms: ***emetic toxin which can cause vomiting and nausea ***diarrhea * '' B. thuringiensis'' is an important

insect Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pa ...

pathogen, and is sometimes used to control insect pests. *''B. subtilis'' is an important

model organism A model organism (often shortened to model) is a non-human species that is extensively studied to understand particular biological phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in the model organism will provide insight into the workin ...

. It is also a notable food spoiler, causing ropiness in bread and related food. **''B. subtilis'' can also produce and secrete antibiotics. *Some environmental and commercial strains of '' B. coagulans'' may play a role in food spoilage of highly acidic, tomato-based products.

Industrial significance

Many ''Bacillus'' species are able to secrete large quantities of enzymes. '' Bacillus amyloliquefaciens'' is the source of a natural antibiotic protein barnase (a

ribonuclease Ribonuclease (commonly abbreviated RNase) is a type of nuclease that catalyzes the degradation of RNA into smaller components. Ribonucleases can be divided into endoribonucleases and exoribonucleases, and comprise several sub-classes within the ...

), alpha amylase used in starch hydrolysis, the

used with detergents, and the

BamH1 ''Bam''HI (pronounced "Bam H one") (from ''Bacillus amyloliquefaciens'') is a type II restriction endonuclease, having the capacity for recognizing short sequences (6 bp) of DNA and specifically cleaving them at a target site. This exhibit focus ...

restriction enzyme A restriction enzyme, restriction endonuclease, REase, ENase or'' restrictase '' is an enzyme that cleaves DNA into fragments at or near specific recognition sites within molecules known as restriction sites. Restriction enzymes are one class ...

used in DNA research. A portion of the ''

Bacillus thuringiensis ''Bacillus thuringiensis'' (or Bt) is a gram-positive, soil-dwelling bacterium, the most commonly used biological pesticide worldwide. ''B. thuringiensis'' also occurs naturally in the gut of caterpillars of various types of moths and butterf ...

'' genome was incorporated into corn (and cotton) crops. The resulting

GMO A genetically modified organism (GMO) is any organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. The exact definition of a genetically modified organism and what constitutes genetic engineering varies, with ...

s are resistant to some insect pests. ''Bacillus subtilis'' (natto) is the key microbial participant in the ongoing production of the soya-based traditional natto fermentation, and some ''Bacillus'' species are on the Food and Drug Administration's GRAS (generally regarded as safe) list. The capacity of selected ''Bacillus'' strains to produce and secrete large quantities (20–25 g/L) of extracellular enzymes has placed them among the most important industrial enzyme producers. The ability of different species to ferment in the acid, neutral, and alkaline pH ranges, combined with the presence of thermophiles in the genus, has led to the development of a variety of new commercial enzyme products with the desired temperature, pH activity, and stability properties to address a variety of specific applications. Classical mutation and (or) selection techniques, together with advanced cloning and protein engineering strategies, have been exploited to develop these products. Efforts to produce and secrete high yields of foreign recombinant proteins in ''Bacillus'' hosts initially appeared to be hampered by the degradation of the products by the host proteases. Recent studies have revealed that the slow folding of heterologous proteins at the membrane-cell wall interface of Gram-positive bacteria renders them vulnerable to attack by wall-associated proteases. In addition, the presence of thiol-disulphide oxidoreductases in ''B. subtilis'' may be beneficial in the secretion of disulphide-bond-containing proteins. Such developments from our understanding of the complex protein translocation machinery of Gram-positive bacteria should allow the resolution of current secretion challenges and make ''Bacillus'' species preeminent hosts for heterologous protein production. ''Bacillus'' strains have also been developed and engineered as industrial producers of nucleotides, the vitamin riboflavin, the flavor agent ribose, and the supplement poly-gamma-glutamic acid. With the recent characterization of the genome of ''B. subtilis'' 168 and of some related strains, ''Bacillus'' species are poised to become the preferred hosts for the production of many new and improved products as we move through the genomic and proteomic era.

Use as model organism

'' Bacillus subtilis'' is one of the best understood prokaryotes, in terms of molecular and cellular biology. Its superb genetic amenability and relatively large size have provided the powerful tools required to investigate a bacterium from all possible aspects. Recent improvements in

fluorescent microscopy A fluorescence microscope is an optical microscope that uses fluorescence instead of, or in addition to, scattering, reflection, and attenuation or absorption, to study the properties of organic or inorganic substances. "Fluorescence microsc ...

techniques have provided novel insight into the dynamic structure of a single cell organism. Research on ''B. subtilis'' has been at the forefront of bacterial molecular biology and cytology, and the organism is a model for differentiation, gene/protein regulation, and cell cycle events in bacteria.

References

External links

Bacillus
genomes and related information a
PATRIC
a Bioinformatics Resource Center funded b
NIAID
{{Authority control Bacteria genera Gram-positive bacteria