It also synthesizes a natural antibiotic protein barnase, a widely studied ribonuclease that forms a famously tight complex with its intracellular inhibitor barstar, and plantazolicin, an antibiotic with selective activity against Bacillus anthracis.

[10] Bacillus amyloliquefaciens was first isolated from the soil 1943 by the Japanese scientist Juichiro Fukumoto,[11][12] who gave the bacterium its name because it produced (faciens) a liquifying (lique) amylase (amylo).

Bacillus amyloliquefaciens is considered a root-colonizing biocontrol bacterium, and is used to fight some plant root pathogens in agriculture, aquaculture, and hydroponics.

[2] It has been shown to be effective against several root pathogens that hurt agricultural yields in soil and hydroponics, such as Ralstonia solanacearum in cannabis sativa-hemp, tomatoes,[2][3][14] Rhizoctonia solani in lettuce,[5] Pythium in cannabis sativa-hemp & tomatoes,[4] Alternaria tenuissima in English ivy[6] and Fusarium in bananas and cucumbers.

[7][8] It also appears to improve root tolerance against abiotic stress, allowing plants such as maize to tolerate high salt concentrations in hydroponic applications, while also reducing salt concentrations in the plant tissue.