Soil Project 2016
Classification
Domain: Bacteria
Phylum: Firmicutes
Class: Bacilli
Order: Bacillales
Family: Bacillaceae
Genus: Bacillus
Species
Bacillus subtilis
Habitat Information
B. subtilis is commonly found in soil, which explains why it is UV resistant. This organism was collected on January 29, 2016. There was 0% rainfall and 22% humidity. GPS coordinates are 30.195412 and -97.75259799999998. The soil came from the front yard about 1” below surface.
Description and Significance
B. subtilis is a gram positive rod. The colonies appear dry, irregular and have lobate margins. They are white and have textured veins. B. subtilis may be a good resource to use when it comes to fighting infection. The growth of E. coli and S. aureus was inhibited by B. subtilis. Another reason B. subtilis may be useful is because it was susceptible to Vancomycin, Ampicillin, Cefoxitin, and Oxacillin (however, the Oxacillin did show some regrowth). On surfaces, B. subtilis is susceptible to Lysol (10% & 100%) and resistant to rosemary and 10% bleach.
Genome Structure
B. subtilis is a prokaryotic organism, meaning it is single celled organism that lacks a nucleus, and contains a circular double stranded DNA.
Polymerase chain reaction, PCR, was done to copy and amplify a small piece of DNA from the organism. After inputting the PCR results into the GenBank, which is maintained by the NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information), the organism was confirmed as B. subtilis. The query covered by the forward sequence was 100% and the reverse sequence was 99% positive at identifying this B. Subtilis as strain cz.
The biochemistry, physiology and genetics have been studied intensely for over 40 years. There are 4,214,810 genome base pairs. General features of the DNA sequence show that the G and C average ratio is 43.5%. G and A are more abundant than C and T. (Kunst, 1997).
B. subtilis is frequently used for industrial production of recombinant proteins because it is easy and inexpensive to cultivate. Over 60% of commercial enzymes are produced by B. subtilis. (Westers, 2004).
Cell Structure, Metabolism and Life Cycle
Bacillus Subtilis is a prokaryote organism. It is a Gram positive organism meaning it has a thick peptidoglycan layer and a thin cytoplasmic membrane. It is a rod-shaped cell that used a flagella for motility. This organism is aerobic meaning when it under goes cellular respiration it uses oxygen as the terminal electron acceptor. However after performing a Nitrate reduction test it proved that bacillus Subtilis can reduce Nitrate and survive under anaerobic conditions. Since this is a soil organism, it is highly resistant to UV rays. B.subtilis can produce lipase, it allows to the cell to break down lipids into smaller fragments which in turn may be used as an energy source or other productions. B. subtiilis is able to form endospores which allows it to divide and continue its lifecycle.
Physiology and Pathogenesis
After performing many tests in class were we able to determine that B. subtilis is able produces many enzymes such as gelatinase, DNase, lipase, nitrate reductase, urease and many others. It is even able to undergo hemolysis and bile esculin hydrolysis.
B. subtilis bacteria are non pathogenic, however they can contaminate food but rarely cause food poisoning. They are used as fungicide on plants.
It produces many antibiotics against other bacteria such as E. coli and S. aureus.
References
Kirk, Ellen. "Bacillus Subtilis" Biological sciences. Missouri S&T, 2009.
F. Kunst, N. Ogasawara. Nature 390, 249-256 (20 November 1997); Received 16 July 1997; Web 5 May 2016.
L. Westers, H. Westers, W. Quax. “Protein Export/Secretion in Bacteria.” Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Cell Research. Volume 1694, Issues 1–3, 11 November 2004, Pages 299–310. Web 5 May 2016.
Author
Page authored by Jennifer Vega and Crystal Lucio, students of Prof. Kristine Hollingsworth at Austin Community College.
