Strain selection, production, and formulation of the biological plant vitality enhancing agent FZB24® Bacillus subtilis.

So far 65 fully characterized species have been assigned to the genus Bacillus. With new diagnostic methods, it is now possible to recognize greater genetic and physiological diversity within individual species. As a consequence, new taxonomic groups could be seperated in the future, and some species could be assigned to different groups. The Bacillus subtilis group includes e.g. the species B. amyloliquefaciens, B. subtilis, B. pumilus, B. licheniformis, and B. firmus, which are characterized by acid formation from various sugars, including glucose, under aerobic conditions, and which have ellipsoid spores that are not larger than the parent cell (Priest 1993). FZB24® Bacillus subtilis, which had been isolated from natural habitats in Brandenburg, Germany, was identified as B. subtilis by the methods of Bergey (1986) on the basis of its morphological, biochemical, and serological properties (Juhr, 1992). The identification as Bacillus subtilis has been confirmed by computer-assisted diagnostic systems that are also based on biochemical parame1 Development concept for biological products