Subtillis, known also as the hay bacillus or grass bacillus, is a Gram-positive, catalase-positive bacterium, found in soil and the gastrointestinal tract of ruminants and humans.
Contents
Uses
- An endospore probiotic that’s heat-resistant. Elicits a potent immune response and supports GALT. It suppresses growth of bad bacteria like salmonella and other pathogens.
Benefits
- There are several uses for Bacillus subtilis and the enzymes it produces. It can be used to create proteases and amylase enzymes.
- At one point Bacillus subtilis was widely used as a broad spectrum antibiotic. This was lost after the ability to produce cheaper, large-scale antibiotics.
- It is still used in Western Europe and the Middle East in alternative medicine. Bacillus subtilis can convert dangerous explosives into just compounds of nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water (Wikipedia).
- The proton binding properties of the surface of this bacterium can also play a role in the degradation of radioactive waste (Wikipedia). Bacillus subtilis has also been used as a soil inoculant, and was at one time used in biological warfare tests run during the Cold War.
- Other commercial applications of Bacillus subtilis include cleaning agents in detergents, in de-haring and batting in the leather industry, in the production of special Japanese and Korean food, starch modification, the de-sizing of textiles, and other specialized chemicals.
- Bacillus subtilis also produces some fungicidal compounds, which are being investigated as control agents of fungal pathogens.
- It is currently being used as a fungicide for plant and ornamental seeds as well as various agricultural seeds.
Cautions
- There are more than one hundred strains of bacillus bacteria and some of the strains are known to be pathogenic or toxic to humans and animals.
- Because of confusion regarding the strains of bacillus subtilis, three new studies were carried out and published in 2008 on the safety of B. subtilis as a probiotic. Four strains of the bacteria were studied by researchers in Canada, France, Vietnam and the UK.
- In all three studies, no pathogenic indications were seen and no antibiotic resistant genes were found. This is important because sometimes bacterium carries genes which are resistant to medications used in humans.
Interactions
n/a
Other names
hay bacillus or grass bacillus
References
Source: Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacillus_subtilis
Web.mst.edu, https://web.mst.edu/~microbio/BIO221_2009/B_subtilis.html
Nootritment, https://nootriment.com/bacillus-subtilis/