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Bacillus

 
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This page is about the bacterial genus. For the class, see Bacilli
Bacilli

Bacilli refers to a taxonomy Class of bacteria. It includes two orders, Bacillales and Lactobacillales, which contain several well-known pathogens like Bacillus anthracis ....
.
Bacillus is a genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 of rod-shaped bacteria and a member of the division Firmicutes
Firmicutes

The Firmicutes are a division of bacterium, most of which have Gram-positive cell wall structure. A few, the Mollicutes or mycoplasmas, lack cell walls altogether and so do not respond to Gram staining, but still lack the second membrane found in other Gram-negative forms....
. Bacillus species are either obligate or facultative aerobes, and test positive for the enzyme
Enzyme

Enzymes are biomolecules that catalysis chemical reactions. Almost all enzymes are proteins. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process are called Substrate , and the enzyme converts them into different molecules, the products....
 catalase
Catalase

Catalase is a common enzyme found in nearly all living organisms which are exposed to oxygen, where it functions to catalyst the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen....
. Ubiquitous in nature, Bacillus includes both free-living and pathogenic species. Under stressful environmental conditions, the cells produce oval endospore
Endospore

An endospore is a dormancy, tough, and non-reproductive structure produced by bacteria from the Firmicute phylum. Examples include Bacillus and Clostridium....
s that can stay dormant for extended periods.






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This page is about the bacterial genus. For the class, see Bacilli
Bacilli

Bacilli refers to a taxonomy Class of bacteria. It includes two orders, Bacillales and Lactobacillales, which contain several well-known pathogens like Bacillus anthracis ....
.
Bacillus is a genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
 of rod-shaped bacteria and a member of the division Firmicutes
Firmicutes

The Firmicutes are a division of bacterium, most of which have Gram-positive cell wall structure. A few, the Mollicutes or mycoplasmas, lack cell walls altogether and so do not respond to Gram staining, but still lack the second membrane found in other Gram-negative forms....
. Bacillus species are either obligate or facultative aerobes, and test positive for the enzyme
Enzyme

Enzymes are biomolecules that catalysis chemical reactions. Almost all enzymes are proteins. In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process are called Substrate , and the enzyme converts them into different molecules, the products....
 catalase
Catalase

Catalase is a common enzyme found in nearly all living organisms which are exposed to oxygen, where it functions to catalyst the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen....
. Ubiquitous in nature, Bacillus includes both free-living and pathogenic species. Under stressful environmental conditions, the cells produce oval endospore
Endospore

An endospore is a dormancy, tough, and non-reproductive structure produced by bacteria from the Firmicute phylum. Examples include Bacillus and Clostridium....
s that can stay dormant for extended periods. These characteristics originally defined the genus, but not all such species are closely related, and many have been moved to other genera.

Industrial significance


Many Bacillus species are able to secrete large quantities of enzymes. Bacillus amyloliquefaciens
Bacillus amyloliquefaciens

Bacillus amyloliquefaciens is a species of bacterium that is the source of the BamH1 restriction enzyme. It also synthesizes a natural antibiotic protein barnase, a widely studied ribonuclease that forms a famously tight complex with its intracellular inhibitor barstar....
 is a species of Bacillus that is the source of a natural antibiotic protein barnase (a ribonuclease
Ribonuclease

Ribonuclease is a type of nuclease that catalysis the degradation of RNA into smaller components. Ribonucleases can be divided into endoribonucleases and exoribonucleases, and comprise several sub-classes within the EC 2.7 and 3.1 classes of enzymes....
), alpha amylase used in starch hydrolysis, the protease
Protease

A protease is any enzyme that conducts proteolysis, that is, begins protein catabolism by hydrolysis of the peptide bonds that link amino acids together in the polypeptide chain, which form a molecule of protein....
 subtilisin
Subtilisin

Subtilisin is a protease initially obtained from Bacillus subtilis.Subtilisins belong to the group of serine proteases which initiate the nucleophilic attack on the peptide bond through a serine residue at the active site....
 used with detergents, and the BamH1 restriction enzyme
Restriction enzyme

A restriction enzyme is an enzyme that cuts double-stranded or single stranded DNA at specific recognition nucleotide sequences known as restriction sites....
 used in DNA research.

Use as model organism

Bacillus subtilis
Bacillus subtilis

Bacillus subtilis, known as the hay bacillus or grass bacillus, is a Gram-positive, catalase-positive bacterium commonly found in soil....
 is one of the best understood prokaryotes, in terms of molecular biology and cell 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 fluorescence microscopy techniques have provided novel and amazing insight into the dynamic structure of a single cell organism. Research on Bacillus subtilis
Bacillus subtilis

Bacillus subtilis, known as the hay bacillus or grass bacillus, is a Gram-positive, catalase-positive bacterium commonly found in soil....
 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.

Clinical significance

Two Bacillus species are considered medically significant: B. anthracis
Bacillus anthracis

Bacillus anthracis is a very large bacterium compared to others. It is a Gram-positive spore-forming rod-shaped bacterium, with a width of 1-1.2?m and a length of 3-5?m....
, which causes anthrax
Anthrax

Anthrax is an Acute disease in humans and animals caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis, which is highly lethal in some forms. There are effective vaccines against anthrax, and some forms of the disease respond well to antibiotic treatment....
, and B. cereus
Bacillus cereus

Bacillus cereus is an Endemic , soil-dwelling, Gram-positive bacteria, Bacillus, hemolysis bacteria that causes foodborne illness. It is the cause of "Fried rice Syndrome"....
, which causes a foodborne illness
Foodborne illness

Foodborne illness is any illness resulting from the consumption of food.There are two types of food poisoning: food infection and food intoxication....
 similar to that of Staphylococcus
Staphylococcus

Staphylococcus is a genus of Gram-positive Bacterium. Under the microscope they appear round , and form in grape-like clusters.The Staphylococcus genus include just thirty-three species....
. A third species, B. thuringiensis, is an important insect
Insect

Insects are the biggest class of arthropods and the only ones with wings. They are the most diverse group of animals on the planet. They are most diverse at the equator and their diversity declines toward the poles....
 pathogen, and is sometimes used to control insect pests. The type species
Type species

In taxonomy, a type species is the species that originally defined a genus . It is an individual specimen that fixes the name of a genus . Two different definitions are used interchangeably, in a general term and a botanical term....
 is B. subtilis
Bacillus subtilis

Bacillus subtilis, known as the hay bacillus or grass bacillus, is a Gram-positive, catalase-positive bacterium commonly found in soil....
, an important model organism
Model organism

A model organism is a species that is extensively studied to understand particular biology phenomena, with the expectation that discoveries made in the organism model will provide insight into the workings of other organisms....
. It is also a notable food spoiler, causing ropiness in bread and related food. B. coagulans
Bacillus coagulans

Bacillus coagulans is a lactic acid forming bacterial species within the genus Bacillus. The organism was first isolated and described in 1932 and was elaborated in the fifth edition of Bergey?s Manual of Determinative Bacteriology....
 is also important in food spoilage.

An easy way to isolate Bacillus is by placing non-sterile soil in a test tube
Test tube

A test tube, also known as a culture tube, sample tube, test flute or flaccid flute, is a piece of laboratory glassware composed of a finger-like length of glass tubing, open at the top, with a rounded U-shaped bottom....
 with water, shaking, placing in melted Mannitol Salt Agar, and incubating at room temperature for at least a day. Colonies are usually large, spreading and irregularly-shaped. Under the microscope, the Bacillus appear as rods, and a substantial portion usually contain an oval endospore
Endospore

An endospore is a dormancy, tough, and non-reproductive structure produced by bacteria from the Firmicute phylum. Examples include Bacillus and Clostridium....
 at one end, making it bulge.

The 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 triangle shape and withstands the pressure generated by the cell's turgor. The cell wall is composed of salt, teichoic and teichuronic acids. B. subtilis is the first bacterium for which the role of an actin-like cytoskeleton in cell shape determination and peptidoglycan
Peptidoglycan

Peptidoglycan, also known as murein, is a polymer consisting of sugars and amino acids that forms a mesh-like layer outside the plasma membrane of bacteria, forming the cell wall....
 synthesis was identified and for which the entire set of peptidoglycan synthesizing enzymes was localised. The role of the cytoskeleton in shape generation and maintenance is important .

See also

  • Paenibacillus
    Paenibacillus

    Paenibacillus is a genus of bacterium, originally included within Bacillus. The name reflects this fact: Latin paene means almost, and so the Paenibacilli are literally almost Bacilli....
    , a genus of bacteria that was formerly included in Bacillus


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