THERMUS OSHIMAI SP-NOV, ISOLATED FROM HOT-SPRINGS IN PORTUGAL, ICELAND, AND THE AZORES, AND COMMENT ON THE CONCEPT OF A LIMITED GEOGRAPHICAL-DISTRIBUTION OF THERMUS SPECIES

We examined aerobic, thermophilic, gram-negative bacteria that were is olated from hot springs in Portugal and were identified as Thermus str ains and placed in phenetic groups on the basis of their phenotypic ch aracteristics. We determined the composition of the peptidoglycan, ide ntified the respiratory quinones, and determined the mean base composi tion of the DNA, and the levels of DNA-DNA homology were determined by both the filter hybridization and reassociation rate methods. Thermus aquaticus, Thermus brockianus, and Thermus filiformis were not detect ed in this collection of organisms, although three Thermus thermophilu s strains were identified. We propose that the isolates that belonged to phenetic clusters E and F are members of a new species, Thermus osh imai; the type strain of T. oshimai is strain SPS17.