Bacillus clausii: Difference between revisions

From MicrobeWiki, the student-edited microbiology resource
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===Higher order taxa===
===Higher order taxa===


Bacteria; Firmicutes; Bacilli; Bacillales; Bacillaceae; Bacillus
Bacteria (phylum); Firmicutes (class); Bacilli (order); Bacillales (family); Bacillaceae; Bacillus


===Species===
===Species===

Revision as of 06:24, 30 May 2007

A Microbial Biorealm page on the genus Bacillus clausii

Classification

Higher order taxa

Bacteria (phylum); Firmicutes (class); Bacilli (order); Bacillales (family); Bacillaceae; Bacillus

Species

Bacillus clausii

Description and significance

Describe the appearance, habitat, etc. of the organism, and why it is important enough to have its genome sequenced. Describe how and where it was isolated. Include a picture or two (with sources) if you can find them.


Bacillus clausii is a Gram positive, and like most of the Bacillus bacteria, it is rod-shaped. B. clausii is alkaliphilic and produces M-protease, a high-alkaline protease that is industrially important for heavy-duty detergents. [Kageyama] The alkaliphilic nature of the organism has also proved it to be useful in preventing and treating various gastrointestinal disorders as an oral bacteriotherapy. [Senesi] This organism can be found in many alkaline environments, including soil and concrete. The B. clausii strain KSM-K16 was obtained from soil samples, and identified as a new strain of Bacillus based on 16S sequencing along with other classification techniques (eg. DNA-DNA hybridization) [Kageyama]


http://www.springerlink.com/content/f6h65u65125t4811/fulltext.html http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=92655

Genome structure

Describe the size and content of the genome. How many chromosomes? Circular or linear? Other interesting features? What is known about its sequence? Does it have any plasmids? Are they important to the organism's lifestyle?

The Bacillus clausii KSM-K16 complete genome is one circular chromosome composed of 4,303,871 nucleotides. The genome represents 4204 genes, of which 4096 are protein coding. The GC content of B. clausii KSM-K16 is 44%.


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=genome&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=Overview&list_uids=565

Cell structure and metabolism

Describe any interesting features and/or cell structures; how it gains energy; what important molecules it produces.

Bacillus clausii is gram-positive, meaning it is surrounded by a thick cell wall. The cell wall is made up of the peptidoglycan murien. This tough cell wall surrounded by teichoic and lipoteichoic acids acts as protection for the cell and helps maintain cell shape.

Ecology

Describe any interactions with other organisms (included eukaryotes), contributions to the environment, effect on environment, etc.

Pathology

None?

Application to Biotechnology

Does this organism produce any useful compounds or enzymes? What are they and how are they used?

B. clausii genome sequence is being studied for its importance in biotechnology:

"[Bacillus clausii and other relatives] are now being investigated in order to better understand the physiology, biochemistry, and especially molecular genetics underlying the behavior of alkaliphilic bacteria . Most of the studies have been performed to examine enzyme biotechnology, as alkaliphilic Bacillus strains produce enzymes, such as xylanases, cellulases, amylases, and proteases, that are very useful in industry and domestic life" [Senesi]


The spores of B. clausii and other related Bacilli are used as probiotics to improve the intestinal microbial balance. Probiotic-containing treatments are available for human nutrition, animal feed supplements, and also for aquaculture. http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/botrender.fcgi?blobtype=html&artid=383048

Current Research

Enter summaries of the most recent research here--at least three required

http://www.springerlink.com/content/f6h65u65125t4811/fulltext.htmlz  : Kageyama focuses on classifying a new species of Bacillus, Bacillus clausii, by implementing various analyzing techniques to illustrate the difference of the new species.


http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=15299321&itool=iconabstr&query_hl=30&itool=pubmed_docsum :

"An alkaline serine protease, M-protease, from Bacillus sp. KSM-K16 has been crystallized. Two morphologically different crystal forms were obtained." The M-protease is structurally similar to two new found proteases in this organism.

References

[Sample reference] Takai, K., Sugai, A., Itoh, T., and Horikoshi, K. "Palaeococcus ferrophilus gen. nov., sp. nov., a barophilic, hyperthermophilic archaeon from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent chimney". International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology. 2000. Volume 50. p. 489-500.


Though not formally written in here, the references have been marked throughout so far to make sure I know where I obtained each source.

Edited by Ankur Patel of Rachel Larsen and Kit Pogliano