Genotyping of dairy Bacillus licheniformis isolates by high resolution melt analysis of multiple variable number tandem repeat loci

► A new MLVA genotyping method for Bacillus licheniformis based on 5 loci was developed. ► Analysis can be done using agarose gels or high resolution melt curve comparisons. ► MLVA was more discriminatory than previously used RAPD and rpoB gene sequencing methods. ► Groupings determined using the 3 genotyping methods were found to be consistent. ► B. licheniformis isolates from milk powder samples were found to be heterogeneous.