Bacillus is a genus of Gram-positive, rod-shaped bacteria, a member of the phylum Bacillota, with 266 named species. The term is also used to describe the shape (rod) of other so-shaped bacteria; and the plural Bacilli is the name of the class of bacteria to which this genus belongs. Bacillus species can be either obligate aerobes which are dependent on oxygen, or facultative anaerobes which can survive in the absence of oxygen. Cultured Bacillus species test positive for the enzyme catalase if oxygen has been used or is present.
A honey bee is a eusocial flying insect within the genus Apis of the bee clade, all native to mainland Afro-Eurasia. After bees spread naturally throughout Africa and Eurasia, humans became responsible for the current cosmopolitan distribution of honey bees, introducing multiple subspecies into South America, North America, and Australia.
Bacillus subtilis, known also as the hay bacillus or grass bacillus, is a gram-positive, catalase-positive bacterium, found in soil and the gastrointestinal tract of ruminants, humans and marine sponges. As a member of the genus Bacillus, B. subtilis is rod-shaped, and can form a tough, protective endospore, allowing it to tolerate extreme environmental conditions. B. subtilis has historically been classified as an obligate aerobe, though evidence exists that it is a facultative anaerobe. B. subtilis is considered the best studied Gram-positive bacterium and a model organism to study bacterial chromosome replication and cell differentiation. It is one of the bacterial champions in secreted enzyme production and used on an industrial scale by biotechnology companies.
Heyndrickxia coagulans is a lactic acid–forming bacterial species. This species was transferred to Weizmannia in 2020, then to Heyndrickxia in 2023.
Paenibacillus is a genus of facultative anaerobic, endospore-forming bacteria, originally included within the genus Bacillus and then reclassified as a separate genus in 1993. Bacteria belonging to this genus have been detected in a variety of environments, such as: soil, water, rhizosphere, vegetable matter, forage and insect larvae, as well as clinical samples. The name reflects: Latin paene means almost, so the paenibacilli are literally "almost bacilli". The genus includes P. larvae, which causes American foulbrood in honeybees, P. polymyxa, which is capable of fixing nitrogen, so is used in agriculture and horticulture, the Paenibacillus sp. JDR-2 which is a rich source of chemical agents for biotechnology applications, and pattern-forming strains such as P. vortex and P. dendritiformis discovered in the early 90s, which develop complex colonies with intricate architectures as shown in the pictures:
Aethina tumida,commonly known as small hive beetle (SHB), is a beekeeping pest. It is native to sub-Saharan Africa, but has spread to many other regions, including North America, Australia, and the Philippines.
American foulbrood, caused by the spore-forming bacterium Paenibacillus larvae, is a highly infectious honey bee brood disease. It is the most widespread and destructive of the honey bee brood diseases. It is globally distributed and burning of infected colonies is often considered as the only effective measure to prevent spreading of the disease.
Bacillus amyloliquefaciens is a species of bacterium in the genus Bacillus that is the source of the BamHI restriction enzyme. It also synthesizes a natural antibiotic protein barnase, a widely studied ribonuclease that forms a famously tight complex with its intracellular inhibitor barstar, and plantazolicin, an antibiotic with selective activity against Bacillus anthracis.
Bacillus megaterium is a rod-like, Gram-positive, mainly aerobic, spore forming bacterium found in widely diverse habitats. It has a cell length up to 100 μm and a diameter of 0.1 μm, which is quite large for bacteria. The cells often occur in pairs and chains, where the cells are joined by polysaccharides on the cell walls.
Galleria mellonella, the greater wax moth or honeycomb moth, is a moth of the family Pyralidae. G. mellonella is found throughout the world. It is one of two species of wax moths, with the other being the lesser wax moth. G. mellonella eggs are laid in the spring, and they have four life stages. Males are able to generate ultrasonic sound pulses, which, along with pheromones, are used in mating. The larvae of G. mellonella are also often used as a model organism in research.
Paenibacillus vortex is a species of pattern-forming bacteria, first discovered in the early 1990s by Eshel Ben-Jacob's group at Tel Aviv University. It is a social microorganism that forms colonies with complex and dynamic architectures. P. vortex is mainly found in heterogeneous and complex environments, such as the rhizosphere, the soil region directly influenced by plant roots.
Marian Jeliński was born in Siemirowice, in 1949. Jeliński is a recognized authority in bee diseases and an active member of the Kashubian community. He is involved in a range of activities focusing on the preservation of the Kashubian language and culture. Jeliński is also known for his support of Kashubian embroidery and building bridges between Kashubian communities in Poland and Canada. He and his wife, Alicja, have two sons and currently live in Żukowo, near Gdańsk, Poland.
Bacillus atrophaeus is a species of black-pigmented bacteria. Its type strain is NRRL NRS-213. B. atrophaeus strains have been used extensively in biomedicine as indicator strains for heat- and chemical-based decontamination regimens. Most of the strains in use are derivatives of a lineage of B. atrophaeus that originated at Camp Detrick in the 1950s, where many modern biocontainment procedures were developed.
Paenibacillus koreensis is a bacterium. It produces an iturin-like antifungal antibiotic. It is facultatively anaerobic and its type strain is YC300T.
Paenibacillus alvei is a species of bacteria within the order Bacillales. Like other species within the genus Paenibacillus, strains of this species grow in novel, vortex-like, or branched patterns. This species is associated with the honey bee disease European foulbrood.
Bartonella apis is a bacterium from the genus Bartonella. Bartonella apis was first isolated from the gut of the honey bee in 2015 by Swiss researchers at the University of Lausanne. To date, it has been found only as a gut symbiont of honey bees, including the Western honey bee, and the Eastern or Asiatic honey bee.
Heather Hendrickson is a microbiologist and an Associate Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. She previously worked at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand. Her research is focussed on the evolution of bacterial cell shape, and the discovery of bacteriophages that can attack antibiotic-resistant bacteria and the bee disease American foulbrood.
Commensalibacter is a genus of Gram-negative, aerobic and rod-shaped bacteria from the family of Acetobacteraceae which was originally isolated from Drosophila melanogaster. The complete genome of the type strain C. intestini A911T has been sequenced.
Alkalihalobacillus is a genus of gram-positive or gram-variable rod-shaped bacteria in the family Bacillaceae from the order Bacillales. The type species of this genus is Alkalihalobacillus alcalophilus.
