About Bacillus

General information:
Rod-shaped, endospore-forming aerobic or facultatively anaerobic, Gram positive bacteria. The only other known spore-producing bacterium is Clostridium.
Although most species of Bacillus are harmless saprophytes, two species are considered medically significant: B.anthracis and B. cereus.
Characteristics:
Key virulence genes of B. anthracis are found on plasmids pXO1 and pXO2.
Disease:
B. anthracis is the etiological agent of anthrax.
B. cereus is an opportunistic pathogen causing food poisoning manifested by diarrhoeal or emetic syndromes.
Selected genomes: ⇒ comparative pathogenomics ⇐
B. anthracis str. Ames, 5227293 bp, NC_003997
B. anthracis str. Ames Ancestor, 5227419 bp, NC_007530
B. anthracis str. Sterne, 5228663 bp, NC_005945
B. cereus AH187, 5269030 bp, NC_011658
B. cereus ATCC 10987, 5224283 bp, NC_003909
B. cereus ATCC 14579, 5411809 bp, NC_004722
B. cereus B4264, 5419036 bp, NC_011725
B. cereus biovar anthracis str. CI, 5196054 bp, NC_014335
B. cereus E33L, 5300915 bp, NC_006274
B. cereus G9241, 5267792 bp, NZ_CP009590
B. cereus Q1, 5214195 bp, NC_011969
B. clausii KSM-K16, 4303871 bp, NC_006582
B. halodurans C-125, 4202352 bp, NC_002570
B. licheniformis ATCC 14580, 4222597 bp, NC_006270
B. licheniformis DSM 13 (ATCC 14580), 4222645 bp, NC_006322
B. subtilis subsp. subtilis str. 168, 4215606 bp, NC_000964
B. thuringiensis serovar konkukian str. 97-27, 5237682 bp, NC_005957
B. thuringiensis str. Al Hakam, 5257091 bp, NC_008600
B. weihenstephanensis KBAB4, 5262775 bp, NC_010184
Plasmids:
B. anthracis pXO2, 96231 bp, AF188935
B. anthracis str. Ames Ancestor pXO1, 181677 bp, NC_007322
B. anthracis str. Ames Ancestor pXO2, 94830 bp, NC_007323
B. anthracis str. Sterne pXO1, 181654 bp, AF065404
B. cereus AH187 pAH187_270, 270082 bp, NC_011655
B. cereus biovar anthracis str. CI pCI-XO1, 181907 bp, NC_014331
B. cereus biovar anthracis str. CI pCI-XO2, 94469 bp, NC_014332
B. cereus G9241 pBC210, 209255 bp, NZ_CP009591
B. cereus G9241 pBCX01, 190860 bp, NZ_CP009592
B. thuringiensis serovar israelensis pBtoxis, 127923 bp, AL731825
Related publications:
Kunst F, et al., 1997. The complete genome sequence of the gram-positive bacterium Bacillus subtilis Nature 390(6657):249-256.
Okinaka RT, et al., 1999. Sequence and organization of pXO1, the large Bacillus anthracis plasmid harboring the anthrax toxin genes. J Bacteriol 181(20):6509-6515.
Takami H, et al., 2000. Complete genome sequence of the alkaliphilic bacterium Bacillus halodurans and genomic sequence comparison with Bacillus subtilis Nucleic Acids Res. 28(21):4317-4331.
Read TD, et al., 2003. The genome sequence of Bacillus anthracis Ames and comparison to closely-related bacteria. Nature 423(6935):81-86.
Ivanova N, et al., 2003. Genome sequence of Bacillus cereus and comparative analysis with Bacillus anthracis Nature 423(6935):87-91.
Rasko DA, et al., 2004. The genome sequence of Bacillus cereus ATCC 10987 reveals metabolic adaptations and a large plasmid related to Bacillus anthracis pXO1. Nucl. Acids Res. 32(3):977-988.
Veith B, et al., 2004. The complete genome sequence of Bacillus licheniformis DSM13, an organism with great industrial potential. J Mol Microbiol Biotechnol 7(4):204-211.
Rey MW, et al., 2004. Complete genome sequence of the industrial bacterium Bacillus licheniformis and comparisons with closely related Bacillus species. Genome Biol. 5(10):R77.
Han CS, et al., 2006. Pathogenomic sequence analysis of Bacillus cereus and Bacillus thuringiensis isolates closely related to Bacillus anthracis. J Bacteriol 188(9):3382-3390.
Challacombe JF, et al., 2007. The complete genome sequence of Bacillus thuringiensis Al Hakam. J Bacteriol 189(9):3680-3681.
Ravel J, et al., 2009. The complete genome sequence of Bacillus anthracis Ames "Ancestor". J Bacteriol 191(1):445-446.
Johnson SL, et al., 2015. Complete genome sequences for 35 biothreat assay-relevant bacillus species. Genome Announc 3(2):pii: e00151-15.
Major virulence factors in Bacillus:
Adherence
BslA (B. anthracis S-layer protein A)
Effector delivery system
T7SS (Type VII secretion system)
Exotoxin
ALO (Anthrolysin O)
Anthrax toxin
Cereulide - B. cereus
Certhrax - B. cereus
CytK (Cytotoxin K, Haemolysin IV) - B. cereus
HBL (Haemolysin BL) - B. cereus
Nhe (Nonhemolytic enterotoxin) - B. cereus
Exoenzyme
collagenase - B. cereus
InhA (Immune inhibitor A)
Immune modulation
Capsule
Nutritional/Metabolic factor
Bacillibactin - B. cereus
Hal (Heme-acquisition leucine-rich repeat protein)
IlsA (Iron-regulated leucine rich surface protein type A) - B. cereus
Petrobactin
Regulation
AtxA (Anthrax toxin activator)

Genomic location of virulence-related genes in Bacillus:

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