Simplified technique for identification of the aerobic spore-forming bacteria by phenotype

The use of modern research approaches of genetics, biochemistry and molecul ar biology has led to progress in bacterial taxonomy. Systematic study of t he aerobic spore-forming bacteria has resulted in the realignment of the ge nus Bacillus into several new genera, In the meantime, the identification p rocess has become more difficult for the non-specialist in Bacillus taxonom y, This paper presents a key for the simplified phenotypic identification o f the mesophilic, aerobic, spore-forming bacteria belonging to the genera B acillus, Paenibacillus, Brevibacillus, Aneurinibacillus, Geobacillus and Vi rgibacillus. A total of 81 species were included and 115 morphological and physiological tests were analysed for their discriminative efficiency, This key is practical for rough but quick identification of aerobic spore-formi ng bacteria isolated from nature. Such preliminary identification will be h elpful for the selection of reference strains and methods for more precise identification using the newest techniques. The reliability of the proposed identification key was tested on 100 cultures from the Ukrainian Collectio n of Microorganisms. The developed identification key is represented in int eractive mode on a website (http://www/imv.kiev.ua/key/).