Microorganisms (Nov 2023)

Whole-Genome Analysis of Termite-Derived <i>Bacillus velezensis</i> BV-10 and Its Application in King Grass Silage

  • Xingbo Zhang,
  • Xiaotao He,
  • Jieru Chen,
  • Jingtao Li,
  • Yuhui Wu,
  • Yu Chen,
  • Yuhui Yang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11112697
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 11, no. 11
p. 2697

Abstract

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Bacillus velezensis (B. velezensis) is a cellulose-degrading strain that has the potential as an additive in fermented feed. B. velezensis BV-10 was isolated and screened from the termite gut. We sequenced the whole genome of this new source of B. velezensis to reveal its potential for use in cellulose degradation. Whole-genome sequencing of B. velezensis BV-10 showed that it has a circular chromosome of 3929792 bp containing 3873 coding genes with a GC content of 45.51% and many genes related to cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin degradation. King grass silage was inoculated with B. velezensis BV-10 and mixed with other feed additives to assess the effect of B. velezensis BV-10 on the fermentation quality of silage. Six treatment groups were established: the control, B. velezensis BV-10, molasses, cellulase, B. velezensis BV-10 plus molasses, and B. velezensis BV-10 plus cellulase groups. After 30 days of silage-fermentation testing, B. velezensis BV-10 was found to rapidly reduce the silage pH value and significantly reduce the acid-detergent fiber (ADF) content (p B. velezensis BV-10 plus molasses and cellulase in fermented feed significantly reduced the silage neutral-detergent fiber and ADF content and promoted organic-acid accumulation (p B. velezensis BV-10 promotes the fermentation quality of silage and that this effect is greater when other silage-fermentation additives are included. In conclusion, genes involved in cellulose degradation in B. velezensis BV-10 were identified by whole-genome sequencing and further experiments explored the effects of B. velezensis BV-10 and different feed additives on the fermentation quality of king grass silage, revealing the potential of Bacillus velezensis as a new silage additive.

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