Molecular Typing and Probiotic Attributes of a New Strain of Bacillus coagulans – Unique IS-2: a Potential Biotherapeutic Agent

The genus Bacillus has been in use in the biotechnology industry for a very long time with a number of new cultures exhibiting a variety of benefits to humans. The present study focuses on phenotypic and genotypic characterization of a probiotic lactic acid bacteria, Bacillus coagulans (IS-2 a Unique-Biotech strain) isolated from human feces and contaminated soils. Probiotics are live microbes which when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host and are increasingly used in nutraceuticals, functional foods or in microbial interference treatment. In addition to morphological and biochemical characterization, of this isolate, molecular characterization was done. In vitro assays performed to confirm the probiotic attributes of this isolate B.coagulans-Unique IS-2. The mole % G+C content of IS-2 strain was found to be 46 indicating the identity of the culture as Bacillus coagulans. PCR based amplification of the 16S rDNA, using universal primers, and sequencing done to study the diversity, as it allows identification of prokaryotes as well as the phylogenetic placement of the isolates. 16S rDNA sequence data was used to identify our lab isolates followed by RAPD profile of the new isolateIS-2 of B. coagulans. The phylogenetic tree using Clustal W constructed by UPGMA based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence further confirmed that Unique Biotech strain IS-2 formed a coherent cluster with two other strains of B. coagulans namely B. coagulans ATCC 7050 and Bacillus coagulans NCIM 2030. Evaluation of its probiotic attributes revealed that Bacillus coagulans Unique IS-2 had promising Probiotic properties with reference to its survival in gastrointestinal conditions in the in-vitro assays and therefore offers excellent opportunities for its successful commercialization as a biotherapeutic agent.