Distribution and Relative Dominance of Species of the Genus Bacillus in Two Regions of El-Jamahiriya

Abstract

Fifty isolates of the genus Bacillus were obtained from soil samples from two different locations in El-Jamahiriya: Tripoli and Wadi El-Shatti representing northern and southern regions, respectively. All isolates were purified and characterized to the species level. Eight different species were designated as: B. subtilis, B. cereus, B. megaterium, B. coagulans, B. licheniformis, B. circulans, B. lentus, and B. firmus. Among the species isolated from the northern region, B. cereus appeared to dominate the bacillus component in this soil. On the other hand both B. subtilis and B. circulans shared the dominance in the soil of the southern region.