Query: NC_006322:2851215 Bacillus licheniformis ATCC 14580, complete genome
Lineage: Bacillus licheniformis; Bacillus; Bacillaceae; Bacillales; Firmicutes; Bacteria
General Information: Industrially important bacterium. Under starvation conditions this group of bacteria initiate a pathway that leads to endospore formation, a process that is thoroughly studied and is a model system for prokaryotic development and differentiation. Spores are highly resistant to heat, cold, dessication, radiation, and disinfectants, and enable the organism to persist in otherwise inhospitable environments. Under more inviting conditions the spores germinate to produce vegetative cells. This organism is a soil-dwelling endospore-forming microbe similar to other Bacilli. This bacterium is used extensively in the industrial production of important enzymes such as proteases, penicllinases, and amylases as well as smaller compounds like the antibiotic bacitracin and various organic metabolites. This organism is closely related to Bacillus subtilis on the basis of rRNA typing, and it has been found to occasionally cause illness in humans.
Subject: NC_020134:1173000 Clostridium stercorarium subsp. stercorarium DSM 8532, complete
Lineage: Clostridium stercorarium; Clostridium; unclassified Ruminococcaceae; Clostridiales; Firmicutes; Bacteria
General Information: Lignocellulosic biomass has great potential as an abundant and renewable source of fermentable sugars through enzymic saccharification. Clostridium stercorarium is a catabolically versatile bacterium producing a wide range of hydrolases for degradation of biomass. Together with Clostridium thermocellum, Clostridium aldrichii and other cellulose degraders, it forms group I of the clostridia. It is moderately thermophilic, with an optimum growth temperature of 65 degrees C, and has repeatedly been isolated from self-heated compost. The two-component cellulase system of C. stercorarium has been investigated thoroughly. Due to its ability to utilize the various polysaccharides present in biomass it is especially suited for the fermentation of hemicellulose to organic solvents. Some isolates have been used in Japan in a single-step ethanol-fermenting pilot-process with lignocellulosic biomass as substrate.