Soil Sample Research Project
Classification
Domain; Phylum; Class; Order; family [Others may be used. Use NCBI link to find]
Domain: Bacteria Division/phylum: Firmicutes Class: Bacilli Order: Bacillales Family: Bacillaceae Genus: Bacillus Species: B. safensis
Genus
Bacillus safensis
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NCBI: Taxonomy |
Genus species
Habitat Information
The soil was collected from a flower bed at my Austin TX home on January 29, 2014 at 1030am. The flower bed is west facing with very little sunlight as it is shaded by a structure. Location: 30degree14'05"N 97degree44'01"W.Humidity 78 percent.Temperature 72 degrees Farenheit. Pressure 29.83in. Elevation at 613 feet. Sky is overcast. No precipitation.
Description and Significance
Describe the appearance (colonial and cellular), possible antimicrobial activity etc. of the organism, and why the organism might be significant.
Bacillus safensis is a Gram-positive, spore-forming, and rod bacterium. It is aerobic and highly resistant to UV and gamma rays and salt. It was first discovered in California and Florida on spacecraft and so is believed to have been brought to the USA from Mars. There are numerous strains of this bacterium, everyone belonging to the Firmicutes phylum of Bacteria.
Bacillus safensis is a circular chromosome of 3.68 Mb, with approximately 3928 protein coding sequences and 39 contigs/overlapping DNA fragments greater than 200 base pairs in size. The genome also displays 73 tRNA genes. The strain FO-036b shows a guanine-cytosine content of 41.0-41.4 mol%.
Bacillus safensis is an aerobic, mesophilic, gram positive, spore forming chemoheterotroph.
Cell shape: rod. Cell size: ranges from 0.5-0.7 μm in diameter and 1.0-1.2 μm in length.
Cell movement: motile, and use polar flagella for locomotion.
Colony characteristics: dull white, undulate round, non-luminescent with irregular borders.
Growth: mesophillic, as they can grow in temperatures ranging between 10-50 °C.
Salt tolerance: prefers 0-10% salt, and a pH of 4-8.
Resistances: produce spores that are resistant to hydrogen peroxide and UV radiation.
Positive for oxidase and catalase, Vogues-Proskauer Negative for trypsin, mannitol, ed, but H2S, indole, amylase, agarase, lecithinase, DNase, urease, leucine arylamidase, cystine arylamidase, valine arylamidase, trypsin, α-galactosidase, N-acetyl-β-glucosamidase, α-fucosidase, tryptophan deaminase, phenylalanine deaminase, arginine dihydrolase, lysine decarboxylase and ornithine decarboxylase. Cells do not reduce nitrate, but do hydrolyse gelatin, aesculin and RNA. Negative for gas production from D-glucose. Acid is produced from D-glucose, glycerol, L-arabinose, ribose, D-xylose, galactose
Strain VK also contains genes that encode for 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate deaminase enzyme which enables the plant to tolerate salt, heavy metals, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons. Because it is so tolerant, Bacillus safensis VK is a powerful plant hormone producer.
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? Include S Ribosomal sequence that you obtained from PCR and sequencing here.
Cell Structure, Metabolism and Life Cycle
Interesting features of cell structure; how it gains energy; what important molecules it produces.
Physiology and Pathogenesis
Biochemical characteristics, enzymes made, other characteristics that may be used to identify the organism; contributions to environment (if any).
If relevant, how does this organism cause disease? Human, animal, plant hosts? Virulence factors, as well as patient symptoms.
References
Author
Page authored by Krystal Hess, student of Prof. Kristine Hollingsworth at Austin Community College.
