CARBON NUTRITION AND TAXONOMIC STUDY OF BACILLUS-SUBTILIS AND BACILLUS-LICHENIFORMIS

All 14 strains of B.subtilis can use the following 17 sources of carbon and energy: D-glucose, D-mannose, D-glucosamine salicin, D-ribose, maltose, sucrose, cellobiose, trehalose, arbutin, starch, mannitol, glycerol, glycerate, pyruvate, fumarate, and L-proline. All 15 strains of B.licheniformis can use the following 41 sources of carbon and energy: D-glucose, G-galactose, D-mannose, D-fructose, D-glucosamine, α-methyl-D-glucoside, β-methyl-D-glucoside, salicin, D-gluconate, saccharate, D-xylose, L-arabinose, L-rhamnose, D-ribose, maltose, sucrose, cellobiose, melibiose, trehalose, arbutin, raffinose, starch, inulin, mannitol, D-sorbitol, glycerol, glycerate, citrate, L-malate, D-malate, mucate, pyruvate, fumarate, α-L-alanine, α-D-alanine, asparagine, L-glutamate, L-arginine, DL-ornithine, L-proline, and 4-amino-n-butyrate. The 29 strains form two distinct groups. Group A includes the 15 strains of B.licheniformis and 2 strains of B.subtilis; group B is formed of 11 strains of B.subtilis; the remaining strain of B.subtilis belongs to neither group. B.licheniformis is a more homogeneous species than B.subtilis. The percentage of guanine + cytosine in the DNA of all 29 strains was determined. In the 14 strains of B.subtilis the average of 46.3% ± 1.5. In the 15 strains of B.licheniformis the average is 46.4% ± 0.9.