What is Bacillus megaterium?
Bacillus megaterium. Jump to navigation Jump to search. de Bary 1884. Bacillus megaterium is a rod-like, Gram-positive, mainly aerobic spore forming bacterium found in widely diverse habitats. With a cell length of up to 4 µm and a diameter of 1.5 µm, B. megaterium is amongst the biggest known bacteria.
Is Bacillus subtilis Gram positive or negative?
In terms of popularity as a laboratory model organism, B. subtilis is often considered as the Gram-positive equivalent of Escherichia coli, an extensively studied Gram-negative bacterium. Furthermore, where does Bacillus megaterium come from?
Is Bacillus megaterium the best alternative for protein synthesis?
The Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus megaterium represents an increasingly used alternative for high yield intra- and extracellular protein synthesis. During the past two decades, multiple tools including gene expression plasmids and production strains have been developed.
What is an example of a Gram negative bacteria?
An example of gram-negative bacteria is Escherichia coli, the cause of many urinary tract infections. Fungi (in the form of yeasts or molds) can also be initially recognized with the Gram stain, but viruses cannot be seen with a Gram stain.
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Why is Bacillus megaterium Gram-positive?
megaterium was the main model organism among Gram-positive bacteria for intensive studies on biochemistry, sporulation and bacteriophages....Bacillus megateriumFamily:BacillaceaeGenus:BacillusSpecies:B. megateriumBinomial name8 more rows
Is Bacillus Gram-positive or negative?
Bacillus species are rod-shaped, endospore-forming aerobic or facultatively anaerobic, Gram-positive bacteria; in some species cultures may turn Gram-negative with age. The many species of the genus exhibit a wide range of physiologic abilities that allow them to live in every natural environment.
What Gram stain is Bacillus megaterium?
gram positiveBacillus megaterium is a gram positive, endospore forming, rod shaped bacteria. It is considered aerobic.
Is Bacillus megaterium endospore positive or negative?
Bacillus megaterium is a Gram-positive, rod shaped Endospore-forming Bacteria. It is considered Aerobic, but, it is also capable of growing under anaerobic conditions when necessary. One of the largest Eubacteria found in soil, and hence the name “mega” means “relatively big” is a common soil saprophyte.
Which bacilli is Gram-positive?
Gram-positive bacilli (rods) subdivide according to their ability to produce spores. Bacillus and Clostridia are spore-forming rods while Listeria and Corynebacterium are not. Spore-forming rods that produce spores can survive in environments for many years.
What does Bacillus megaterium cause?
megaterium was the culprit of the brain abscess. Importantly, when this bacterium is found in clinical laboratory specimens, it is often reported as “insignificant contaminant”. [4] However, this case report proves that chronic brain abscesses can be caused by B. megaterium.
Is Bacillus megaterium a characteristic?
Bacillus megaterium is a gram positive, spore producing bacteria. It is a Eubacteria and is found in the soil. It has a rod shape and is one of the largest Eubacteria. Colonies form in chains due to sticky polysaccharides on the cell wall.
Is Bacillus megaterium positive for starch hydrolysis?
The zone of clearing surrounding Bacillus megaterium and Bacillus subtilis indicate that both were able to hydrolyze starch. Iodine has been added to this starch agar plate. The absence of any clearing indicates that neither Streptococcus agalactiae nor Staphylococcus epidermidis were able to hydrolyze starch.
What is the arrangement of Bacillus megaterium?
Description and Significance. This organism is a gram positive, endospore forming, rod shaped bacteria. The colonial morphology is circular, smooth in the center, 'grainy' on the outside, undulate margins, umbonate elevation, and opaque with a golden appearance. The cellular arrangement is bacillus.
What is the difference between Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus megaterium?
megaterium are significantly larger than those of B. subtilis and of other Bacillus species and are surrounded by the exosporium, an outermost surface layer present only in some Bacillus species and lacking in B. subtilis.
Is Bacillus subtilis Gram-negative?
B. subtilis is a fast-growing, Gram-positive, aerobic bacterium with rod-shaped cells that are typically 2–6 µm long and just less than 1 µm in diameter.
Does Bacillus megaterium grow on blood agar?
This photograph depicts the colonial morphology displayed by Gram-positive, Bacillus megaterium bacteria, which was grown on a medium of sheep's blood agar (SBA), for a 24-hour time period, at a temperature of 37°C. The overall colonial morphology displayed by B. megaterium is very similar to that displayed by B.
What is the bioactive compound of Bacillus megaterium?
Several of these bioactive compounds are cyclic lipopeptides, belonging to the surfactin, iturin and fengycin lipopeptide families, which are also produced by several other Bacillus species. B. megaterium is known to produce poly-γ-glutamic acid.
What is the cell size of Bacillus megaterium?
Bacillus megaterium is a rod-like, Gram-positive, mainly aerobic spore forming bacterium found in widely diverse habitats. With a cell length of up to 4 µm and a diameter of 1.5 µm, B. megaterium is amongst the biggest known bacteria.
What is the bacterium that is a rod-like, Gram-positive, mainly aerobic spore
Bacillus. Species: B. megaterium. Binomial name. Bacillus megaterium. de Bary 1884. Bacillus megaterium is a rod-like, Gram-positive, mainly aerobic spore forming bacterium found in widely diverse habitats. With a cell length of up to 4 µm and a diameter of 1.5 µm, B. megaterium is amongst the biggest known bacteria.
What is the main model organism of Gram-positive bacteria?
In the 1960s, prior to the utilization of Bacillus subtilis for this purpose, B. megaterium was the main model organism among Gram-positive bacteria for intensive studies on biochemistry, sporulation and bacteriophages.
What temperature does B. megaterium grow?
Characteristics. B. megaterium grows at temperatures from 3 °C to 45 °C, with the optimum around 30 °C. Some isolates from an Antarctic geothermal lake were found to grow at temperatures up to 63 °C. It has been recognized as an endophyte and is a potential agent for the biocontrol of plant diseases.
Who first described Bacillus megaterium?
The species was described by de Bary in 1884, who called it Bacillus megaterium, but did not give an etymology. However, some subsequent authors called it B. megatherium assuming the name was incorrectly spelled. This trend continues as many scientists (mainly from the developing world) still use the name B. megatherium, sowing confusion.
Is B. megaterium an endophyte?
It has been recognized as an endo phyte and is a potential agent for the biocontrol of plant diseases. Nitrogen fixation has been demonstrated in some strains of B. megaterium. B. megaterium has been an important industrial organism for decades.
How big is Bacillus megaterium?
Bacillus megaterium is latin for the big beast because it is an extremely large bacteria, it is about 100 times as large as E. coli. Due to its immense size, about 60 micrometers cubed, B. megaterium has been used to study structure, protein localization and membranes of bacteria since the 1950’s.
What strain of Bacillus megaterium is still used?
One strain, QM B1551, is still used to produce the antigen for HIV Diagnostic Kits. The biotechnological study of the Bacillus megaterium provides a plethora of different proteins that they are able to employ in important medical, scientific and industrial advances.
Why is Bacillus megaterium used as an industrial organism?
Bacillus megaterium is a good source of industrial proteins because it is both a desirable cloning host and produces a large variation of enzymes.
What is the meaning of "bacillus magaterium"?
Definition – What is the meaning of Bacillus Magaterium? Bacillus Megaterium is a rod-like, Gram-positive, mainly aerobic spore forming bacterium found in widely diverse habitats. With a cell length of up to 4 µm and a diameter of 1.5 µm, B. megaterium is amongst the biggest known bacteria. The cells often occur in pairs and chains where ...
What is the main model organism among Gram-positive bacteria?
In the 1960s, prior to the development of B. megaterium was the main model organism among Gram-positive bacteria for intensive studies on biochemistry, sporulation and bacteriophages. Recently, its popularity has started increasing in the field of biotechnology for its recombinant protein production capacity.
What is megaterium used for?
Further, it is used for the production of pyruvate, vitamin B12, drugs with fungicidal and antiviral properties, etc. [2] It produces enzymes for modifying corticosteroids, as well as several amino acid dehydrogenases. megateriumis known to produce poly-γ-glutamic acid.
What temperature does megaterium grow?
megateriumgrows at temperatures from 3 °C to 45 °C, with the optimum around 30 °C. Some isolates from an Antarctic geothermal lake were found to grow at temperatures up to 63 °C. [1]
Is "megaterium" a noun?
The name B. megaterium is a nominative noun in apposition (see Rule 12 of IBCN [12]) and is formed from the Greek adjective mega, ( μέγας , μεγάλη, μέγα) meaning “great”, [13] and a second word of unclear etymology. Three hypotheses of the epithet “megaterium” are possible: [9]
Is Bacillus megaterium a flexus?
Phylogenetically, based on 16S rRNA, B. megaterium is strongly linked with B. flexus, the latter distinguished from B. megaterium a century ago, but only recently confirmed as a different species.
Overview
Bacillus megaterium is a rod-like, Gram-positive, mainly aerobic spore forming bacterium found in widely diverse habitats. With a cell length of up to 4 µm and a diameter of 1.5 µm, B. megaterium is amongst the biggest known bacteria. The cells often occur in pairs and chains, where the cells are joined together by polysaccharides on the cell walls .
Characteristics
B. megaterium grows at temperatures from 3 °C to 45 °C, with the optimum around 30 °C. Some isolates from an Antarctic geothermal lake were found to grow at temperatures up to 63 °C. It has been recognized as an endophyte and is a potential agent for the biocontrol of plant diseases. Nitrogen fixation has been demonstrated in some strains of B. megaterium.
Isolation
Bacillus megaterium is ubiquitous in the environment around us. In addition to being a common soil bacterium and an endophyte, it can be found in various foods (including honey and bee pollen, in which most microorganisms do not grow) and on a variety of surfaces, including clinical specimens, leather, paper, stone etc. It has also been isolated from cow feces, emperor moth caterpillars and greater wax moth frass.
History of the name
The species was described by de Bary in 1884, who called it Bacillus megaterium, but did not give an etymology. However, some subsequent authors called it B. megatherium assuming the name was incorrectly spelled. This trend continues as many scientists (mainly from the developing world) still use the name B. megatherium, sowing confusion.
The name B. megaterium is a nominative noun in apposition (see Rule 12 of IBCN ) and is forme…
External links
• Type strain of Bacillus megaterium at BacDive - the Bacterial Diversity Metadatabase