Marmur (4) developed one of the first detailed comprehensive methods for purifying bacterial DNA. This procedure is now outdated, and can be difficult to follow for those with limited experience in molecular biology. Here, we provide a modernized, simplified protocol for extracting bacterial DNA and discuss how this can be incorporated into microbiology laboratory courses for biology majors.

A thermophilic, heterotrophic and facultatively anaerobic bacterium designated strain D7XPN1 was isolated from Baku BakuKing™, a commercial food-waste degrading bioreactor (composter). The strain grew optimally at 45 °C (growth range between 24 and 50 °C) and pH 7 (growth pH range between pH 5 and 9) in Luria Broth supplemented with 0.3 % glucose. Strain D7XPN1 tolerated up to 7 % NaCl and showed amylolytic and xylanolytic activities. 16S rRNA gene analysis placed strain D7XPN1 in the cluster represented by Bacillus subtilis and the genome analysis of the 4.1 Mb genome sequence determined using RAST (Rapid Annotation using Subsystem Technology) indicated a total of 5116 genomic features were present of which 2320 features could be grouped into several subsystem categories. Of these, 615 features were related to carbohydrate metabolism which included a range of enzymes with potential in the biodegradation of food wastes, a property consistent with the ecological habitat of the isolate. ANIb (Average Nucleotide Identity based on BLAST) analysis with 49 Bacillus subtilis genomes indicated that it was distantly related to the three currently taxonomically validated B. subtilis subspecies namely B. subtilis subsp. subtilis (95.6 %), B. subtilis subsp. spizizenii (93 %) and B. subtilis subsp. inaquosorum (92 %) and based on our current knowledge warranted that it be included as a separate cluster together with strain JS which it was closely related (98.69 %). The close relationship of strains D7XPN1 and JS is also supported from our results from electronic DNA–DNA Hybridization (e-DDH) studies. Furthermore, our additional in-depth phylogenomic analyses using three different datasets unequivocally supported the creation of a fourth B. subtilis subspecies to include strains D7XPN1 and JS for which we propose strain D7XPN1T (=KCTC 33554T, JCM 30051T) as the type strain, and designate it as B. subtilis subsp. stecoris.

The analysis of the 4.1-Mb draft genome sequence of a moderately thermophilic, heterotrophic, and facultatively anaerobic bacterium, Bacillus subtilis strain D7XPN1, identified genes for a range of enzymes with potential in the biodegradation of food waste, a property consistent with the ecological habitat of the isolate.

The analysis of the ~5.8-Mb draft genome sequence of a moderately thermophilic, heterotrophic, facultative anaerobic bacterium, Paenibacillus strain P1XP2, identified genes for enzymes with the potential for degrading complex food wastes, a property consistent with the ecological habitat of the isolate.

Neisseria meningitidis serogroups B and C have been responsible for the majority of invasive meningococcal disease in Australia, with serogroup B strains causing an increasing proportion of cases in recent years. Serogroup Y has typically caused sporadic disease in Australia. In 2002, a cluster of 4 cases was reported from a rural region in Queensland. Three of these cases were serogroup C, with 1 case diagnosed by molecular detection only, and the fourth case was identified as a serogroup Y infection. Genomic analysis, including antigen finetyping, multilocus sequence typing (MLST), and core genome MLST, demonstrated that the serogroup Y case, though spatially and temporally linked to a serogroup C disease cluster, was not the product of a capsule switch and that one of the serogroup C isolates had a deletion of the entire porA sequence.