Paenibacillaceae

The Paenibacillaceae form a family of Gram-positive bacteria from the order of Bacillales. They are usually rod- shaped and usually form oval, swollen endospores. The bacteria are mostly bottom dwellers and often movable by peritrichous flagella.

Ecology

The representatives tolerate oxygen, many ( Brevibacillus, Aneurinibacillus ) absolutely need oxygen ( obligately aerobic ), other species of this family, such as Paenibacillus are called facultative anaerobes, they can also exist without oxygen. Some microaerobically, only tolerate small amounts of oxygen, such as Thermicanus aegypticus. With respect to temperature for the growth of the family is quite diverse: Thermicanus and thermal Bacillus are, as the name suggests, thermophilic. They show optimum growth at rather high temperatures. In Thermicanus aegypticus the best growth rates at temperatures between 55 and 60 ° C. On the contrary, is Paenibacillus antarcticus psychrophilic, preferred temperatures are from 10 ° to 15 ° C.

The fixation of nitrogen ( Diazotrophie ) was found in different species of Paenibacillus. In the first elementary nitrogen fixation nitrogen is bound and converted to ammonia. Elemental nitrogen is not available to the higher organisms, only bacteria are capable of doing, in the food web paste nitrogen. Therefore, the ecological significance is enormous. Thus one finds, for example, Paenibacillus brasilensis often in association with maize alive. The bacterium is present in the rhizosphere of the plant. Both organisms involved benefit from each other, but the connection is not necessary for the bacteria to fix nitrogen - it's even in the absence of the plant capable of it. Therefore, it is not a symbiosis, but an association. Paenibacillus borealis, P. peoriae, P. azotofixans, and P. polymyxa can also fix nitrogen.

The, also known as Diazotrophie ability is widespread among bacteria. More diazotrophs bacteria such as Azotobacter the Pseudomonadaceae, Klebsiella ( Enterobacteriaceae ) and Frankia alni a gram- positive type of Actinobacteria.

Some species are toxic to various insects. Paenibacillus larvae subsp. larvae (synonym Bacillus larvae ) causes American foulbrood ( AFB ) in honey bees. The bacterium belonging to the family Enterococcaceae Melissococcus plutonius (synonym Melissococcus pluton ) causing the European foulbrood (EFB ), a rather benign bee disease. In the breeding of EFB infected colonies also Paenibacillus alvei and Brevibacillus laterosporus were found, which probably also play a certain role in the foulbrood.

Paenibacillus popilliae is responsible for some beetle larvae of the Scarabaeidae family for the so-called milk sickness. Paenibacillus popilliae and Paenibacillus the type lentimorbus are pathogenic obligate. The bacteria are found in nature only in the insects, the spores in the nearby parts of the floor.

Taxonomy

The genus Paenibacillus was founded by the displacement of various species of the genus Bacillus. Among the genus Bacillus morphologically and phylogenetically ( what the rRNA analyzes prove ) very diverse types, making Neueinteilungen in various types useful. Within the various Bacillus species were divided into several groups based on phylogenetic studies of the rRNA. The third group, also called " Bacillus polymyxa -group", was isolated in 1993 from the genus Bacillus and Paenibacillus renamed polymorpha and belongs to the new family Paenibacillaceae 2001. Other generic names like Aneurinibacillus and Brevibacillus were by far taking place reclassifications of various Bacillus species Paenibacillus phylogenetically closely related, created and filed in the Paenibacillaceae.

System

Genera of this family are:

  • Ammoniphilus Zaitsev et al. 1998
  • Aneurinibacillus Shida et al. 1996 emend. Heyndrickx, et al. 1997
  • Brevibacillus Shida et al. 1996
  • Oxalophagus Collins et al. 1994
  • Paenibacillus Ash et al. 1994 emend. Shida et al. 1997
  • Thermicanus Gossner et al. 2000
  • Thermo Bacillus Touzel et al. 2000

Some of the genera Ammoniphilus, Aneurinibacillus and Oxalophagus be placed in the so-called " Aneurinibacillus group ". The genus Paenibacillus are found in older literature under the name " Bacillus polymyxa -group".

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