B. megaterium grows at temperatures from 3 °C to 45 °C, with the optimum around 30 °C.
Some isolates from an Antarctic geothermal lake were found to grow at temperatures up to 63 °C.

B. megaterium has been recognized as an endophyte and is a potential agent for the biocontrol of plant diseases.
Nitrogen fixation has been demonstrated in some strains of B. megaterium.

B. megaterium has been an important industrial organism for decades.
It produces penicillin amidase used to make synthetic penicillin, various amylases used in the baking industry and glucose dehydrogenase used in glucose blood tests.
Further, it is used for the production of pyruvate, vitamin B12, drugs with fungicidal and antiviral properties, etc.
It produces enzymes for modifying corticosteroids, as well as several amino acid dehydrogenases.

B. megaterium is known to produce poly-γ-glutamic acid.
The accumulation of the polymer is greatly increased in a saline (2–10% NaCl) environment, in which the polymer comprises largely of L-glutamate (L-isomer content up to 95%).
At least one strain of B. megaterium can be considered a halophile, as growth on up to 15% NaCl has been observed.

Phylogenetically, based on 16S rRNA, B. megaterium is strongly linked with B. flexus, the latter distinguished from B. megaterium a century ago, but only recently confirmed as a different species.
B. megaterium has some phenotypic and phylogenetic similarities with pathogens B. anthracis and B. cereus, although itself being relatively harmless.
B. megaterium grows at temperatures from 3 °C to 45 °C, with the optimum around 30 °C. Some isolates from an Antarctic geothermal lake were found to grow at temperatures up to 63 °C.
B. megaterium has been recognized as an endophyte and is a potential agent for the biocontrol of plant diseases. Nitrogen fixation has been demonstrated in some strains of B. megaterium.
B. megaterium has been an important industrial organism for decades. It produces penicillin amidase used to make synthetic penicillin, various amylases used in the baking industry and glucose dehydrogenase used in glucose blood tests. Further, it is used for the production of pyruvate, vitamin B12, drugs with fungicidal and antiviral properties, etc. It produces enzymes for modifying corticosteroids, as well as several amino acid dehydrogenases.
B. megaterium is known to produce poly-γ-glutamic acid. The accumulation of the polymer is greatly increased in a saline (2–10% NaCl) environment, in which the polymer comprises largely of L-glutamate (L-isomer content up to 95%). At least one strain of B. megaterium can be considered a halophile, as growth on up to 15% NaCl has been observed.
Phylogenetically, based on 16S rRNA, B. megaterium is strongly linked with B. flexus, the latter distinguished from B. megaterium a century ago, but only recently confirmed as a different species. B. megaterium has some phenotypic and phylogenetic similarities with pathogens B. anthracis and B. cereus, although itself being relatively harmless.
Bacillus megaterium