Bacillus paraflexus sp nov., isolated from compost

A Gram-stain-positive, rod-shaped, endospore-forming, aerobic bacterium capable of growing at 15-42 degrees C (optimum 30 degrees C) and at pH 5-11 (optimum pH 7) was isolated from compost. Its taxonomic position was deduced using a polyphasic approach and the strain was designated RC2(T). 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that the isolate belongs to the division Firmicutes, forming a clade within the cluster containing Bacillus flexus IFO 15715(T), and showed highest similarity to B. flexus IFO 15715(T) (98.1%). The cell wall contained meso-diaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic diamino acid. The major cellular fatty acids of the novel strain were iso-C-15:0 (36.83 %), anteiso-C-15:0 (49.19 %) and C-16:0 (5.19 %). DNA-DNA hybridization between strain RC2(T) and B. flexus DSM 1320(T) showed a level of relatedness of 54.5%. The polar lipid profile of strain RC2(T) showed the presence of phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylethanolamine. The predominant isoprenoid quinone was MK-7 and the G+C content of strain RC2(T) was 37.6 mol%. On the basis of phenotypic characteristics, phylogenetic analysis and the results of biochemical and physiological tests, strain RC2(T) was clearly distinguished from closely related members of the genus, and the strain is assigned to a novel species, for which the name Bacillus paraflexus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is RC2(T) (=MTCC 9831(T)=MCC 2100(T)=KCTC 13724(T)=CCM 7754(T)).