Bacilli

Bacilli
Bacillus subtilis, Gram stain
Scientific classification
Domain:	Bacteria
Phylum:	Bacillota
Class:	Bacilli Ludwig et al. 2010
Orders
Bacillales Caryophanales Desulfuribacillales Lactobacillales
Synonyms
"Bacillia" Oren, Parte & Garrity 2016 Desulfuribacillia Sorokin et al. 2021 Firmibacteria Murray 1988 Teichobacteria Cavalier-Smith 2002

Bacilli is a taxonomic class of bacteria that includes two orders, Bacillales and Lactobacillales, which contain several well-known pathogens such as Bacillus anthracis (the cause of anthrax). Bacilli are almost exclusively gram-positive bacteria.^[1]

The name Bacillus, capitalized and italicized, refers to a specific genus of bacteria. The name Bacilli, capitalized but not italicized, can also refer to a less specific taxonomic group of bacteria that includes two orders, one of which contains the genus Bacillus. When the word is formatted with lowercase and not italicized, 'bacillus', it will most likely be referring to shape and not to the genus at all.