Rigby Sampson 15298612

Bacillus anthacis

Brief section History:

The first demonstration of the link between bacteria and disease came in 1879 when German
physician Robert Koch (1843-1910), using the criteria proposed by his former teacher, established
the relationship between Bacillus anthacis and the fatal disease anthrax.
Koch did this by firstly injecting 20 healthy mice with infected material from a diseased animal all
of the mice developed anthrax. Secondly he incubated a piece of spleen containing only the anthrax
causing bacillus. The bacilli grew , reproduced and produced spores. These spores where then
injected into healthy mice and anthrax developed. Even today his criteria for proving the connection
between disease and bacteria still exist and are known as Koch's postulates.¹

Morphology:

B. anthacis is a reasonably large aerobatic bacterium that is rod-shaped in appearance.¹ It is gram-

positive, this is defined due to the red colour it becomes after staining which in turn is due to the
murien layer that makes up the cell wall which is easily stained. However its most interesting
morphological aspect is its ability to form spores, and infact the spores themselves.

These microscopic clones grown by the cell as a response to nutrient deprivation (they are in a way
a survival strategy) are located in a specific area called the sporangium, which changes position
depending on the bacteria. The position of the sprangi are so species specific they can be used to
identify among the groups.¹ The spores, often not more than 1-2um in diameter, contain normal cell
structures such as ribosomes, enzymes, mitochondria and a nucleoid region containing DNA (the
work force and blueprints) and have the ability remain metabolically inactive for long periods of
time. Several evolutionary advances have made spores incredibly resistant to all forms of hardship,
including heat, radiation, chemicals and destruction by enzymes. To understand how the spore can
survive these adverse conditions we must look at its make up, from the outside in.

Wrapped around the entire spore we find a protective coating comprised primarily of protein. The
function of this coat is to defend against the digestive effect of enzymes and denaturing effects of
chemicals. Beneath the coat is a thick layer called the cortex which helps protect against heat and
that will upon germination become part of the bacterial cell wall. These two layer are the first and
second lines of defence for the core. The core is the dehydrated heart of the spore and houses the
genetic information as well as the above mentioned. It also holds two more substances responsible
for it's survival. Dipicolinic acid exist with in the core in large quantities within the core (almost
10% of the dry weight) and apart from aiding in heat resistance it is believed it has a role in keeping
the cell dormant.¹ The second substance or group of substances, known as small acid-soluble
proteins (SASPs), bind tightly to the DNA strands further condensing them and protecting from the
damaging effects of UV and gamma radiation as well as any DNA altering chemicals that make it
into the cortex.²
This is an amazing feat of evolution, and will guarantee the existence of Bacillus anthacis and
other spore forming bacteria for years to come.
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Habitat:

Bacillus anthacis inhabits soils world wide, with higher concentrations in fields where live stock is
kept.¹ They infect livestock and on the rare occasion human beings. The most common form of
infection is cutaneous anthrax, when the bacteria enters an open wound, this is the most common
form and fairly harmless with treatment. Gastrointestinal anthrax comes about through the ingestion
of the bacterium, this is a hugely unpleasant form of the disease with a 25-60% mortality rate
depending on how soon treatment is administered. The final form and the one dealt with in the book
is pulmonary anthrax, the path way of which I will look into.
The spores being so tiny are easily airborne, if enough spores are inhaled they follow the air tract
into the alveolar spaces where they lodge themselves. Being a foreign body they are engulfed by
alveolar macrophages. Thanks to their adequate protection the survive phagocytosis and germinate
within the cell. Once fully germinated they make there journey to the lymph nodes and finally to the
blood stream where they produce exotoxins.²

Special adaptations:

One of the most amazing special or unique adaptations I found with Bacillus anthacis is that of its
exotoxins. The way these three protein complexes work to block, protect then infiltrate
macrophages in the blood stream.
These three proteins are, the protective antigen [PA], edma factor [EF] and lethal factor [LF].
The plasma membranes of macrophages are covered in anthrax toxin receptors [ATR] which
normally stop EF and LF from entering the cell. However the PA binds to these receptors forming a
PA-ATR complex. When seven of theses complexes have formed they group to form a doughnut-
shaped ring. This ring then starts the process of boring through the membrane. Next either LF or EF
bond to the centre of this group of PA-ATR complexes, after which the entire compound is
engulfed by the plasma membrane and moved to an endosome. After gaining access to the cell the
seven ring complex has another job to get free from the endosome. It pierces a special pore through
the endosome membrane through which it can release the toxins.¹ So from just three proteins, PA,
LF and EA the lethal [PA+LF] and edma [PA+EF] toxins are released into the cell to cause havoc.³

Realistic description in the book:

Robin Cook is fairly accurate in his description of Bacillus anthacis and it's potential as a bio-
weapon. The first bit of evidence towards this is that the bacteria in the book originated from the
soil and that it was relatively easy to grow. Two statements from the same 10/10/01 New York
Time article by William J Broad back this up.
Firstly and I quote “the anthrax may have come from, in decreasing order of likelihood. Nature, a
scientific germ bank or a military compound working on bio-weapons.”
Secondly, “With luck and determination in getting the starter [anthrax] germ it would be fairly easy
to grow billions of offspring to make a crude weapon.”
Supporting its deadlines and use as a bio-weapon as in the book. “Bacillus anthacis causes the acute
fatal disease anthrax and is a potential biological weapon due to its high toxicity.” Applied and
Enviromental Microbiology Journal, June 2000, pg 2627, Vol 66, #6
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Cooks description of pulmonary anthrax is also very accurate. He describes the two phases well.
Firstly after an incubation period of 1-6days several non-specific illness's present as symptoms such
as a mild fever, malaise and a non productive cough. All of which the carpet salesman experiences.
The second phase is far more violent. The fever sky-rockets, the victim experiences cyanosis
(oxygen deficiency) and dyspnea (shortness of breath) this progresses rapidly to septic shock and in
24-36hrs, death.¹

Bibliography:

¹-Microbiology 7th Edition by Prescott, Harley and Klein

²-Cornell University, Department of Microbiology

www.micro.cornell.edu

³-Contribution of individual toxin compounds to virulence of Bacillus anthacis

article by C Pezard, P Berche, M Mock.

http://www.textbookofbacteriology.net/Bacillus.html

Abstract

A wide range of carbohydrate sources for the growth of industrial Bacillus subtilis strains were
studied. The growth was mainly accelerated 2.7 and 2.5-fold by adding green syrup and glucose in a
combination with xylose, respectively, in comparison to the traditional glucose. The revealed
nutritional demands of these bacteria allowed us to select an optimal composition of the medium
using a method of experimental design. Conditions essential for the maximum production of cells
and spores were determined, and certain similarities and strain-specific features of this process were
found for the strains studied. Mathematical models describing growth and spore formation during
submerged cultivation of Bacillus subtilis were also proposed in this work. The antagonistic activity
possessed by the strains studied was shown to be unchanged through batch cultivation. We
demonstrated the possibility of direct regulation of Bacillus subtilis growth and spore formation by
maintaining the concentration of carbon and nitrogen sources and other components of growth
media at a certain level.
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