Rapid identification of heterotrophic, thermophilic, spore-forming bacteria isolated from hot composts

The restriction enzyme profiles of 16S ribosomal DNAs (rDNAs) amplified by PCR from thermophilic heterotrophic bacterial strains isolated from composts were compared with those of reference strains. This allowed us to assign all but 1 of 16 strains to four different Bacillus species (namely, Bacillus stearothermophilus, Bacillus pallidus, Bacillus thermoglucosidasius, and "Bacillus thermodenitrificans"). This study showed that PCR restriction analysis of 16S rDNA contributes to rapid and reliable identification of newly isolated strains belonging to recognized species.