Bacillus lonarensis sp. nov., an alkalitolerant bacterium isolated from a soda lake

A novel Gram-stain-positive, rod-shaped, motile and endospore-forming novel bacterial strain 25nlg(T) was isolated from Lonar soda lake, in India. Based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, it was identified as a member of Firmicutes, being most closely related to Bacillus patagoniensis PAT 05(T) (96.6 %) and other members in the genus Bacillus (<96.0 %). Strain 25nlg(T) was catalase and oxidase-positive. The strain grows optimally at a pH of 9.5 with 4-6 % (w/v) NaCl and temperature of 35-37 °C. The cell wall of the strain 25nlg(T) contains meso-diaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic amino acid. Polar lipids include diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, an unknown phospholipid (PL2), an aminophospholipid (APL2) and three unknown lipids (L2-4). The predominant isoprenoid quinone was MK-7. iso-C15:0 (41.7 %) was the predominant fatty acid, and significant proportions of anteiso-C15:0 (20.8 %), C12:0 (5.5 %), anteiso-C17:0 (4.9 %), iso-C17:0 (4.5 %) were also detected in the strain 25nlg(T). The DNA G+C content of the strain 25nlg(T) was 40.5 mol%. The results of molecular, physiological and biochemical tests allowed a clear phenotypic differentiation of strain 25nlg(T) from all other members of the genus Bacillus. Strain 25nlg(T) represents a novel member of the genus Bacillus, for which the name Bacillus lonarensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 25nlg(T) (=KCTC 33413(T) = LMG 27974(T) = CGMCC = 1.12817(T)).