Paenibacillus xylanilyticus sp. nov., an airborne xylanolytic bacterium

During a search for xylan-degrading micro-organisms, a sporulating bacterium was recovered from xylan-containing agar plates exposed to air in a research laboratory (Salamanca University, Spain). The airborne isolate (designated strain XIL14T) was identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing as representing a Paenibacillus species most closely related to Paenibacillus illinoisensis JCM 9907T (99.3 % sequence similarity) and Paenibacillus pabuli DSM 3036T (98 % sequence similarity). Phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and DNA-DNA hybridization data indicated that the isolate belongs to a novel species of the genus Paenibacillus. Cells of strain XIL14T were motile, sporulating, rod-shaped, Gram-positive and facultatively anaerobic. The predominant cellular fatty acids were anteiso-C(15 : 0) and C(16 : 0). The DNA G+C content of strain XIL14T was 50.5 mol%. Growth was observed with many carbohydrates, including xylan, as the only carbon source and gas production was not observed from glucose. Catalase was positive and oxidase was negative. The airborne isolate produced a variety of hydrolytic enzymes, including xylanases, amylases, gelatinase and beta-galactosidase. DNA-DNA hybridization levels between strain XIL14T and P. illinoisensis DSM 11733T and P. pabuli DSM 3036T were 43.3 and 36.3 %, respectively. According to the data obtained, strain XIL14T is considered to represent a novel species for which the name Paenibacillus xylanilyticus sp. nov. is proposed (=LMG 21957T=CECT 5839T).