Bacillus Fastidiosus Research Articles

Inducement of a heat-shock requirement for germination and production of increased heat resistance in Bacillus fastidiosus spores by manganous ions.

Bacillus fastidiosus, which requires uric acid or allantoin, grows and sporulates on a simple medium containing 59.5 mM uric acid, 5.7 mM K(2)HPO(4), and 2% agar in distilled water. Seventy to ninety percent sporulation was achieved in 96 h. Spores obtained on this medium do not need a heat shock prior to germination. The necessary germination conditions for this organism are 30 C, phosphate or this(hydroxymethyl)aminomethane buffer at pH 7.0, and 5.95 mM uric acid. Sporulation occurred earlier (48 h) and with higher frequency (greater than 99%) when Mn(2+) was added to the growth medium. However, these spores germinated only after heat activation (70 C, 30 min). The effectiveness of heat activation was directly dependent upon the concentration of Mn(2+) in the growth medium; 10(-5) M Mn(2+) was the minimal concentration for the effect. This phenomenon was not found upon addition of Ca(2+), Mg(2+), Fe(2+), Zn(2+), or Cu(2+) to the medium. The Mn(2+) content of the spores depended upon the concentration of Mn(2+) in the sporulation medium. There was a significant difference in heat resistance between spores harvested from unsupplemented medium and those harvested from medium supplemented with 5 x 10(-5) M Mn(2+). A D(85 C) value of 6.5 min was determined with the former, whereas the latter had a value of 17.0 min. Very little change in either Ca(2+) or dipicolinic acid content was detected in spores harvested from various Mn(2+)-supplemented media. Thus Mn(2+) may play a role in the inducement of the heat-shock requirement and the formation of spores with increased heat resistance.

Demonstration of Decolorization of Various Dyes by Some Bacterial Isolates Recovered from Textile Effluents

In the present study some predominant bacteria from textile effluent were isolated and their decolorizing activity was evaluated. Heavy load of bacteria (1.3 × 103 to 3.07 × 107 cfu/ml) were found in eight effluent samples collected from two textile industries. Six dye decolorizing bacteria were isolated and identified as Bacillus fastidiosus, Bacillus polymyxa, Bacillus licheniformis, Bacillus megaterium, Staphylococcus aureus and Micrococcus luteus. The isolates were tested for their ability to decolorize different concentrations (0.01, 0.05 and 0.1%) of six different textile dyes. Among the dyes Terasil red W-FS and Terasil black W-NS were found to be completely decolorized by the all isolates at different concentrations. Cibacron yellow F-4G was decolorized very easily by B. fastidiosus while the other dyes were only partially decolorized by the test organisms. Cibacron blue FN-R, Cibacron navy FN-B and Cibacron orange FN-R were only weakly decolorized by the most of the isolates. The results of the present study show that B. fastidiosus, B. polymyxa, M. luteus and S. aureus were the potential isolates in the treatment of dyeing industry effluents and their potentiality can be exploited to clean up the environment. Key words: Bacteria; Effluent; Dye; Decolonization. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjsir.v46i3.9037 BJSIR 2011; 46(3): 323-328

The Fine Structure of Bacillus fastidiosus

SUMMARY: Bacillus fastidiosus, an aerobic spore-forming bacterium able to utilize uric acid or allantoin as sole source of carbon and nitrogen, has been re-isolated and its fine structure described. Anatomical features of vegetative cells are similar to those of other members of the genus Bacillus. The mature endospore has typical core and cortical regions. The spore coat is highly laminated and surrounded by a tight-fitting exosporium to which conspicuous exosporial hairs are attached.