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Bacillus
(bә-sil´әs)
a genus of aerobic or facultatively anaerobic, spore-forming rods, most of which are gram-positive and motile. There are three
pathogenic species: B. an´thracis, which causes anthrax; B. ce´reus, a common soil saprophyte that causes food poisoning by the formation of an enterotoxin in contaminated foods; and B. sub´tilis, a common soil and water saprophyte that often occurs as a laboratory contaminant and occasionally causes conjunctivitis.
B. subtilis also produces the antibacterial agent bacitracin.
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