Emended descriptions of Geobacillus thermoleovorans and Geobacillus thermocatenulatus

Nineteen thermophilic, aerobic, endospore-forming bacterial strains were subjected to 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis. Eight of these strains had been received as cultures of Geobacillus kaustophilus, G. lituanicus, G. stearothermophilus, 'G. thermoleovorans subsp. stromboliensis', G. vulcani, 'Bacillus caldolyticus', 'B. caldotenax' and 'B. caldovelox', but they showed close relationships with the type strain of G. thermoleovorans, as did two other strains received as G. thermoleovorans. All strains underwent further taxonomic analysis by API and other phenotypic tests and fatty acid methyl ester analysis, and selected strains were analysed for their polar lipids and for DNA relatedness. The 11 strains that formed the G. thermoleovorans 16S rRNA cluster also showed some phenotypic similarities, and DNA relatedness data support the reassignment of the strains received as G. kaustophilus, G. lituanicus, 'G. thermoleovorans subsp. stromboliensis', G. vulcani, 'B. caldolyticus', 'B. caldotenax' and 'B. caldovelox', and one of the G. stearothermophilus strains, as members of the species G. thermoleovorans. Four other strains received as G. kaustophilus were misnamed; two were identified as G. stearothermophilus and two appeared to be closely related to Anoxybacillus rupiensis. One strain received as G. stearothermophilus remained unidentified. On the basis of a single strain, Geobacillus thermocatenulatus was shown to represent a distinct species, but study of the type strain of Geobacillus gargensis showed this species to be a later heterotypic synonym of Geobacillus thermocatenulatus. Emended descriptions of Geobacillus thermoleovorans and Geobacillus thermocatenulatus are therefore presented.