Contribution to phenotypic and genotypic characterization of Bacillus licheniformis and description of new genomovars

A study of phenotypic and genotypic characteristics was carried out on 182 strains isolated from soil of different geographical areas; the type strain s were B. licheniformis, B. subtilis, B. pumilus, B. cereus and B. coagulan s. The results showed, primarily on the basis of phenotypic features, that all the isolates belonged to the B. licheniformis species, however DNA rela tedness studies revealed only 161 to be genetically related to B. lichenifo rmis, the DNA relatedness levels ranging from 66 to 100%. The other 21 isol ates appeared to be genetically distinct not only from B. licheniformis but also from B. subtilis and B. pumilus, where there were low levels of DNA r elatedness (from 4 to 37%). Nevertheless the ARDRA results indicate that th e 21 atypical isolates were phylogenetically related to B, licheniformis. O ur data and the phenotypic homogeneity found suggest the presence of three different genomovars.