The isolation of obligate alkalophi

The isolation of obligate alkalophilic organisms from human and animal feces was first
reported by Vedder in 1934. He briefly described these organisms and proposed the name
Bacillus alcalophilus for his strains and also stated that he had been able to prove that life exists
that not only tolerates, but depends on, a highly alkaline pH [24]. Today, many of these
alkalophilic Bacillus strains are of considerable industrial importance, particularly for use of
proteases in laundry detergents [25], xylanases for use in paper pulp industry [26], and cyclodextrin
glucanotransferase for cyclodextrin manufacture from starch [27,28]. These industrial
applications have prompted the isolation of alkalophilic microorganisms from a variety
of natural and man-made alkaline environments [14,23,29]. Normal garden soil was reported
to be a preferred source for isolation, presumably because of the various biological activities
that generate transient alkaline conditions in such environments [12]. These organisms were
also isolated from nonalkaline habitats such as neutral and acidic soils, and thus appear to be
fairly widespread.