Recombinant Bacillus anthracis Antigen

Bacillus anthracis is a large, Gram-positive, rod-shaped, spore-forming, facultative anaerobic bacterium that serves as the causative agent of anthrax, a severe zoonotic disease affecting domestic and wild herbivores, as well as humans. It is a Tier 1 select agent due to its historical and potential use as a biological weapon. The organism alternates between a dormant, highly resilient endospore form that survives for decades in soil, and a vegetative form that replicates rapidly within a host. Key targets for diagnostics, therapeutics (such as monoclonal antibodies), and vaccine formulation include the Poly-D-glutamic acid capsule (which inhibits phagocytosis) and the tripartite anthrax toxin complex, which consists of three distinct plasmid-encoded proteins: Protective Antigen (PA), Edema Factor (EF), and Lethal Factor (LF).