Bacillus amyloliquefaciens

Bacillus amyloliquefaciens was first isolated from the soil 1943 by the Japanese scientist Juichiro Fukumoto, who gave the bacterium its name because it produced (faciens) a liquifying (lique) amylase (amylo). ==Uses==

Alpha amylase from B. amyloliquefaciens is often used in starch hydrolysis. It is also a source of subtilisin, which catalyzes the breakdown of proteins in a similar way to trypsin. Agriculture Bacillus amyloliquefaciens is considered a root-colonizing biocontrol bacterium, and is used to fight some plant root pathogens in agriculture, aquaculture, and hydroponics. It has been shown to provide benefits to plants in both soil and hydroponic applications. It takes action against bacterial and fungi pathogens, and may prevent infection though competitive exclusion or out-competing the unwanted pathogen. Rhizoctonia solani in lettuce, Alternaria tenuissima in English ivy and Fusarium in bananas and cucumbers. It also appears to improve root tolerance against saline stress, allowing plants such as corn to tolerate high salt concentrations in hydroponic applications, while also reducing salt concentrations in the plant tissue. ==Status as a species==

Between the 1940s and the 1980s, bacteriologists debated as to whether or not B. amyloliquefaciens was a separate species or a subspecies of Bacillus subtilis. The matter was settled in 1987; it was established to be a separate species. In the American Type Culture Collection, the number for B. amyloliquefaciens is 23350. Bacillus amyloliquefaciens FZB42, the producer of the ultranarrow-spectrum antibiotic plantazolicin, was reclassified in 2015 as B. velezensis NRRL B-41580T (along with B. methylotrophicus KACC 13015 T and B. oryzicola KACC 18228) based on phenotype and genotype data. ==References==