By Harold Eddleman, Ph. D.
Isolation and study of Bacillus species from soil, manure, and plant materials is very easy for the beginning student using only foods found in any kitchen. The various Bacillus species have many differing traits and you could have a lot of fun studying a large number of Bacillus strains which you isolated all by yourself.
This is the Index Page. The other pages in this series are listed below
BA00 - Interesting reasons to start a Bacillus
project. Start with a pan of boiling water and soil.
BA01 - The Bacillaceae family consists to 50+ species of Bacillus
and 60+ species of Clostridium species and less than a dozen miscellaneous
sporeformers.
BA02 - The Genus Bacillus
BA03 - The Genus Clostridium
Bacillus is a large genus of bacteria which are able to form spores in the presence of oxygen. Bacillus and Clostridum are common in soil, manure, and plant material. Bacillus species are easy to isolate from pasteurized soil because the spores can withstand boiling water which can then be plated on sterile agar, gelatin, or potato slices in the presence of air (oxygen present). Most of the colonies which grow will be Bacillus.
Clostrium species also form spores which survive boiling water, but the Closterium species can not form spores in the presence of oxygen. Most clostridia are aerotolerant (they survive exposure to air), but most species of Clostridium do not resume growth if oxygen is present. Clostridium species will be covered in pages to be started in early February.
To be continued.
50 species Bacillus
60 species of Clostridia
Revision #2 1998 January 27