Diversity Investigation Of Bacillus-like Species In Taiwan

Bacillus-like species, a gram-positive bacterium, can survive in a variety of adverse environment and have special functions. It has been widely used in practice. To investigate the diversity of Bacillus-like species in Taiwan firstly for enriching the Bacillus resources in this paper. One hundred and fifty four stains of Bacillus sp. were separated by plate dilution coating method from 23 soil samples collected at 9 counties and cities in Taiwan and were identified as 25 species of Bacillus by 16S rDNA gene sequencing. Diversity of Bacillus-like species and its distribution pattern for the cities and counties from north to south in Taiwan were analyzed using the diversity index and system cluster. In addition, geographic distribution characteristics of the most strains including Bacillus aryabhatiai, Bacillus anthracis and Bacillus thuringiensis separated from Taiwan, were investigated by clustering analysis based on 16S rDNA gene sequences. The results showed Bacillus-like species presented polymorphism in the morphology. The phylogenetic relationships of Bacillus were showed by cluster analysis of 16S rDNA. Bacillus thuringiensis, Bacillus aryabhaftai and Bacillus cereus were the dominant species in the samples of Taiwan, presenting existing in the most samples from Taibei to Gaoxiong of nine cities and counties. Bacillus anthracis and Lysinibacillus xylanilyticus were common species in five provinces, while Bacillus soli, Lysinibacillus sphaericus, Bacillus mojavensis, Bacillus oceanisediminis, Bacillus idriensis, Bacillus muralis, Bacillus infantis, Bacillus asahii, Bacillus fiexus, Bacillus subtilis, Ornithinibacillus contaminans were special species and only existed in single province, respectively. There were great differences in the number of Bacillus-like species in each collected samples of the same area, and great changes in the number of Bacillus-like species in each collected samples of one region. The percentages of the total species of Bacillus-like species in each region were largely affected by the number of the samples. The trend of Bacillus average species was the same as that of Bacillus average diversity index in nine cities and counties of Taiwan. The characteristics of geographic distribution showed that the same species of Bacillus came from the same area clustered together, exhibiting some evolutionary relationships were in the evolution of Bacillus-like species in the same area due to common habitat or impact factor. Cluster analysis of species of bacillus showed that Bacillus aryabhattai was dominatively distributed in Taiwan; following by Bacillus thuringiensis, Bacillus cereus and Bacillus anthracis with its species commom in each region. Compared with in Taiwan, many species had not been reported in mainland, such as Bacillus asahii, Bacillus aerophilus, Lysinibacillus macrolides, Bacillus marisflavi, Bacillus oceanisediminis and so on, probably attributed to the special ecological environment in Tianwan. So, it is great significance to investigate the diversity of Bacillus-like species in Taiwan.The number and the fatty acid diversity of Bacillus in Taiwan also had been investigated in this paper. Statistics of the number showed that there were differences in the number of Bacillus among every sample in Taiwan. The differences existed among the Bacillus from the same region but different habitats. B. aryabhattai was the main Bacillus flora in most of the samples. The charts, in which the number of Bacillus is changing, showed that the most number of Bacillus in the centre of Taiwan, the descending trend ordered along the sides, from north to south in Taiwan, except Taoyuan and Xinzhu, that might be affected by various factors such as the climate, environmental conditions and so on. Statistical analysis of fatty acid showed that the fatty acid diversity and uniformity index of the samples in one region of Taiwan were different, but the more differences in its diversity and uniformity index in some areas the more number of samples. Principal component analysis of fatty acids showed that the most abundant fatty acids were the major fatty acids of Bacillus cereus group and Bacillus megaterium group strains, and their fatty acids were analyzed by variance at the standard of cities and counties in Taiwan. Bacillus fatty acids in Taiwan were affected by the geographic distribution of Bacillus. In addition, spores of Bacillus cereus and Bacillus megaterium were stained and their physiological and biochemical characteristics were tested, and identification was conducted by gyrB gene to verify the superiority of gyrB gene in classification and identification of Bacillus-like species in this paper.