Identification of Bacillus anthracis strains in China

As part of a project to establish a reference strain collection, phenotypic, biochemical and genetic analyses were carried out on 84 strains of Bacillus anthracis, 81 of them of Chinese origin from various sources. Particular differences from reports on isolates of other origins were the possession of fimbriae and single polar flagella with consequent motility in 77, self-agglutination by 64 and failure to ferment maltose in 60 of the Chinese strains. The findings were considered to be of significance to identification, classification and evolution of B. anthracis.