AUTHOR=Olajide Atinuke M. , Chen Shu , LaPointe Gisèle 

TITLE=Markers to Rapidly Distinguish Bacillus paralicheniformis From the Very Close Relative, Bacillus licheniformis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=11

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2020.596828

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2020.596828

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p>As close relatives, <italic>Bacillus paralicheniformis</italic> is often wrongly identified as <italic>Bacillus licheniformis</italic>. In this study, two genetic markers are presented based on <italic>fenC</italic> and <italic>fenD</italic> from the fengycin operon of <italic>B. paralicheniformis</italic> to rapidly distinguish it from <italic>B. licheniformis</italic>. The fengycin operon is one of the few present in <italic>B. paralicheniformis</italic> but absent in <italic>B. lichenformis</italic> up to date. Using these markers, two presumptive <italic>B. paralicheniformis</italic> isolates each were recovered from a set of isolates previously identified as <italic>B. licheniformis</italic> by Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization–time of flight (MALDI-TOF) or identified only to genus level as <italic>Bacillus</italic> by 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene sequencing, respectively. Whole genome sequencing of the four isolates confirmed their identity as <italic>B. paralicheniformis</italic> having the closest similarity with <italic>B. paralicheniformis</italic> ATCC 9945a (GenBank: CP005965.1) with a 7,682 k-mer score and 97.22% Average Nucleotide Identity (ANI). ANI of 100% suggests that the four isolates are highly similar. Further analysis will be necessary to determine if finer differences exist among these isolates at the level of single nucleotide polymorphisms.</p>