Bacillus anthracis is a spore-forming, Gram-positive microorganism. It is a causative agent of anthrax, a highly infectious disease. It belongs to the "Bacillus cereus group", which contains other closely related species, including Bacillus cereus, Bacillus thuringiensis, Bacillus mycoides, Bacillus weihenstephanensis, and Bacillus pseudomycoides. B. anthracis naturally occurs in soil environme...

Social concern about misuse of antibiotics as growth promoters (AGP) and generation of multidrug-resistant bacteria have restricted the dietary inclusion of antibiotics in livestock feed in several countries. Direct-fed microbials (DFM) are one of the multiple alternatives commonly evaluated as substitutes of AGP. Sporeformer bacteria from the genus Bacillus have been extensively investigated b...

A total of twenty aerobic endospore-forming bacilli, isolated from marine invertebrates and sea water of different areas of the Pacific Ocean, were taxonomically characterized. Most of the bacilli (11 strains) of marine origin belonged to the species Bacillus subtilis, according to their phenotypic characteristics, antibiotic susceptibility profiles, and fatty acids patterns. A group of four al...

Bacillus spp. are well known rhizosphere residents of many crops and usually show plant growth promoting (PGP) activities that include biocontrol capacity against some phytopatogenic fungi. Potato crops in the Andean Highlands of Peru face many nutritional and phytophatogenic problems that have a significant impact on production. In this context is important to investigate the natural presence ...

The possibility of using mineral oils as a carbon source by bacteria adapted to high oil concentrations was tested in liquid media with different pH values (pH = 5, 7 and 9). Two types of inocula were tested: inoculum I consisted of selected strains used in the bioremediation of oil-contaminated soils and inoculum II contained bacteria isolated from soil samples previously bioremediated at pH =...

In a study of the distribution of the specific types of Friedländer's bacillus, it is shown that: (1) Of 80 strains 52 per cent belong to Type A, 15 per cent to Type B, 9 per cent to Type C, and 24 per cent to Group X. (2) Type A contains for the most part strains derived from diseases of man and more than 70 per cent are associated with pneumonia in man. (3) Type B includes the greatest number...

The New York Bight extends seaward some 80 to 100 miles (ca. 129 to 161 km) from the Long Island and New Jersey shorelines to the edge of the continental shelf. Over 14 x 10(6) m(3) of sewage sludge, dredge spoils, acid wastes, and cellar dirt are discharged into this area each year. Large populations of Bacillus sp. resistant to 20 mug of mercury per ml were observed in Bight sediments contami...