Abstract
Members of the genus Bacillus are commonly isolated from soils, with members of the Bacillus cereus group being prevalent. Our knowledge of the ecology of B. cereus and other aerobic spore-forming bacteria in soil is far from complete. We have developed an in terra approach to study soil-associated aerobes, using filter-sterilized soil extracted soluble organic matter (SESOM). B. cereus is able to germinate, grow and then sporulate when inoculated into SESOM, or in artificial soil microcosms (ASM). Furthermore, B. cereus switches from single-celled growth to form chains that coalesce to form clumps when cultured in SESOM. Data indicate that the switch to form bundles of chains in soil contributed to translocation of the population through soil by a process termed sliding. Methods for preparing SESOM and ASM are outlined, as are approaches to proteomic analysis and screening transposon mutant libraries for genes contributing to the multicellular phenotype.
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Brözel, V.S., Luo, Y., Vilain, S. (2011). Studying the Life Cycle of Aerobic Endospore-forming Bacteria in Soil. In: Logan, N., Vos, P. (eds) Endospore-forming Soil Bacteria. Soil Biology, vol 27. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-19577-8_6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-19577-8_6
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