Bacillus ciccensis sp. nov., isolated from maize (Zea mays L.) seeds

Two Gram-stain-positive bacterial strains, designated as 5L6^T and 6L6, isolated from seeds of hybrid maize (Zea mays L., Jingke 968) were investigated using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. The cells were aerobic, motile, endospore-forming and rod-shaped. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the isolates were recognized as a species of the genus Bacillus, to which the five closest neighbours are Bacillus solani FJAT-18043^T (99.8 % similarity), Bacillus horneckiae DSM 23495^T (97.7 %), Bacillus eiseniae A1-2^T (97.4 %), Bacillus kochii WCC 4582^T (97.1 %) and Bacillus purgationiresistens DS22^T (97.0 %). The DNA G+C content of strain 5L6^T was 37.4 mol%. Its polar lipid profile consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylethanolamine. The predominant respiratory quinone was MK-7 and the major fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0, anteiso-C15 : 0, iso-C16 : 0, iso-C14 : 0, anteiso-C17 : 0 and C16 : 1 ω7c alcohol. The cell-wall peptidoglycan contained ornithine, serine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid and alanine while diaminopimelic acid could not be detected. Strains 5L6^T and 6L6 were clearly distinguished from the type strains of related validly named species using phylogenetic analysis, DNA-DNA hybridization, fatty acid analysis, peptidoglycan analysis and comparison of a range of physiological and biochemical characteristics. The genotypic and phenotypic data show that strains 5L6^T and 6L6 represent a novel species of the genus Bacillus, for which the name Bacillusciccensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 5L6^T (=KCTC 33663^T=CICC 23855^T=DSM 104513^T).