ArticleApplied and environmental microbiology2006
Bacillus anthracis multiplication, persistence, and genetic exchange in the rhizosphere of grass plants.
Article in Applied and environmental microbiology, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 65 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
65 citing papers in PubMed, 179 citations in OpenAlex.
- Anthrax-causing bacteria form biofilms on a soil-inspired porous glass bead model.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2026Article
- Human anthrax vaccines: Current status and future prospects.Human vaccines & immunotherapeutics · 2025Review
- Persistence in time: the hunt forApplied and environmental microbiology · 2025Article
- New Insights into the Phylogeny of the A.Br.161 ("A.Br.Heroin") Clade ofPathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Single domain antibodies from camelids in the treatment of microbial infections.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Review
- Risk factors associated with cutaneous anthrax outbreaks in humans in Bangladesh.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Roles of host and environment in shift of primary anthrax host species in Kruger National Park.PloS one · 2024Article
- Antifungal potential of multi-drug-resistantFrontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2024Article
- Review
- Population genomics ofMicrobial genomics · 2022Article
- Conjugation acrossFrontiers in microbiology · 2022Review
- Adaptation of Bacillus thuringiensis to Plant Colonization Affects Differentiation and Toxicity.mSystems · 2021Article
- Spore-Associated Proteins Involved in c-di-GMP Synthesis and Degradation of Bacillus anthracis.Journal of bacteriology · 2021Article
- The roles of environmental variation and parasite survival in virulence-transmission relationships.Royal Society open science · 2021Review
- Article
- Real-World Ethical Dilemmas in Laboratory Safety for Microbiology Under-Resourced and Outreach Teaching.Frontiers in microbiology · 2021Article
- A Unique Isolation of a Lytic Bacteriophage InfectedMicroorganisms · 2020Article
- Review: The risk of contracting anthrax from spore-contaminated soil - A military medical perspective.European journal of microbiology & immunology · 2020Article
- Article
- Cross-species pathogen spillover across ecosystem boundaries: mechanisms and theory.Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences · 2019Review
5 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax, is known for its rapid proliferation and dissemination in mammalian hosts. In contrast, little information exists regarding the lifestyle of this important pathogen outside of the host. Considering that Bacillus species, including close relatives of B. anthracis, are saprophytic soil organisms, we investigated the capacity of B. anthracis spores to germinate in the rhizosphere and to establish populations of vegetative cells that could support horizontal gene transfer in the soil. Using a simple grass plant-soil model system, we show that B. anthracis strains germinate on and around roots, growing in characteristic long filaments. From 2 to 4 days postinoculation, approximately one-half of the B. anthracis CFU recovered from soil containing grass seedlings arose from heat-sensitive organisms, while B. anthracis CFU retrieved from soil without plants consisted of primarily heat-resistant spores. Co-inoculation of the plant-soil system with spores of a fertile B. anthracis strain carrying the tetracycline resistance plasmid pBC16 and a selectable B. anthracis recipient strain resulted in transfer of pBC16 from the donor to the recipient as early as 3 days postinoculation. Our findings demonstrate that B. anthracis can survive as a saprophyte outside of the host. The data suggest that horizontal gene transfer in the rhizosphere of grass plants may play a role in the evolution of the Bacillus cereus group species.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.