DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES OF MUCILAGINOUS BACTERIA, BACILLUS-EDAPHICUS SP. NOV., AND CONFIRMATION OF THE TAXONOMIC STATUS OF BACILLUS-MUCILAGINOSUS AVAKYAN ET-AL. 1986 BASED ON DATA FROM PHENOTYPIC AND GENOTYPIC ANALYSIS

The taxonomic position of 11 strains of mucilaginous bacteria resembli ng the previously described ''Bacillus mucilaginosus'' strain 1480D in their phenotype and high G+C content of DNA was established by severa l methods of pheno-, chemo-, and genotypic analysis, including determi nation of fatty-acid composition and DNA homologies and 16S rRNA seque ncing. Despite the large phenotypic similarity, genotypic analysis rev ealed reliable differences on an interspecies level between strain 148 0D and the novel isolates. These results confirm the taxonomic status of the earlier proposed species ''B. mucilaginosus,'' with the type st rain 1480D, and allow the new isolates to be assigned to a new species of mucilaginous bacteria, Bacillus edaphicus sp. nov.