Bacillus anthracis strain 55-VNIIVViM is a live-attenuated nonencapsulated Soviet/Russian veterinary anthrax vaccine strain. We report here the genome of 55-VNIIVViM and confirm its phylogenetic placement in the global population structure of B. anthracis.

A TaqMan-minor groove binding assay designed around a nonsense mutation in the plcR gene was used to genotype Bacillus anthracis, B. cereus, and B. thuringiensis isolates. The assay differentiated B. anthracis from these genetic near-neighbors and determined that the nonsense mutation is ubiquitous across 89 globally and genetically diverse B. anthracis strains.

Bacillus anthracis causes the acute fatal disease anthrax, is a proven biological weapon, and is endemic in Georgia, where human and animal cases are reported annually. Here, we present whole-genome sequences of 10 historical B. anthracis strains from Georgia.

Methods for the immunological detection of Bacillus anthracis in various environmental samples and the discrimination of B. anthracis from other members of the B. cereus group are not yet well established. To generate specific discriminating antibodies, we immunized rabbits, mice, and chickens with inactivated B. anthracis spores and, additionally, immunized rabbits and mice with the tetrasacch...

Optimization of methods for ruling out Bacillus anthracis leads to increased yields, faster turnaround times, and a lighter workload. We used 72 environmental non-B. anthracis bacilli to validate methods for ruling out B. anthracis. Most effective were the use of horse blood agar, motility testing after isolates had a 2-h incubation in trypticase soy broth, and screening isolates with a B. anth...

Using photogenerated glycan arrays, we characterized a large panel of synthetic carbohydrates for their antigenic reactivities with pathogen-specific antibodies. We discovered that rabbit IgG antibodies elicited by Bacillus anthracis spores specifically recognize a tetrasaccharide chain that decorates the outermost surfaces of the B. anthracis exosporium. Since this sugar moiety is highly speci...

Bacillus anthracis is the only pathogen known to be highly infectious with potential biothreat in the family Bacillaceae. The organism in its endospore form has the potential to get aerosolized and infect large population resulting in panic and mass causality (Wilkening, 2006). Because of this reason, Center for Disease control and prevention (CDC) has listed Bacillus anthracis as category A ag...

background & aim: salvia officinalis is known as a traditional medicine for several diseases in countries like lebanon, syria, jordan, etc. in addition, s. officinalis has been subjected to several studies in a try to specify its medicinal effects. this study aims to evaluate the antimicrobial activity of this plant. the aim of the present research was to study antibacterial effects of s. o...

Bacillus anthracis can infect both livestock and humans. The importance of the treatment of the disease in humans has been underscored by the bioterrorism events of 2001 in the United States. The presence of PA and B/C genes (pX01 and pX02 plasmids) as well as susceptibility to several antimicrobial substances was determined in 11 strains of Bacillus anthracis isolated during two recent epizoot...