Bacillus qingshengii sp. nov., a rock-weathering bacterium isolated from weathered rock surface

A novel type of rock-weathering bacterium was isolated from weathered rock (tuff) surface collected from Dongxiang (Jiangxi, eastern China). Cells of strain G19(T) were Gram-reaction-positive, rod-shaped, endospore-forming and non-motile. The strain was aerobic, catalase- and oxidase-positive, and grew optimally at 30 °C and pH 7.0. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, strain G19(T) was shown to belong to the genus Bacillus and the closest phylogenetic relatives were Bacillus aryabhattai B8W22(T) (97.4%) and Bacillus megaterium IAM 13418(T) (97.1%). The DNA G+C content was 36.7 mol% and the predominant respiratory quinone was MK-7. The major fatty acids were iso-C14 : 0, iso-C15 : 0 and anteiso-C15 : 0. The polar lipid profile of strain G19(T) contained phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol and an unidentified lipid. Based on the low level of DNA-DNA relatedness (ranging from 49.4% to 55.0%) to these type strains of species of the genus Bacillus and unique phenotypic characteristics, strain G19(T) represents a novel species of the genus Bacillus, for which the name Bacillus qingshengii sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is G19(T) ( = CCTCC AB 2013273(T) = JCM 19454(T)).