BACILLUS SALEXIGENS SP-NOV, A NEW MODERATELY HALOPHILIC BACILLUS SPECIES

Bacillus salexigens sp. nov. is proposed based on the characteristics of six moderately halophilic, grampositive, rod-shaped strains isolate d from salterns and hypersaline soils located in different geographica l areas of Spain. These strains were motile, formed endospores, were s trictly aerobic, were catalase and oxidase positive, and contained pep tidoglycan of the meso-diaminopimelic acid type in their vegetative Ce ll walls. The DNA base compositions of these strains ranged from 36.3 to 39.5 mol%, and these organisms constitute a homology group with lev els of DNA-DNA homology ranging from 73 to 100%, The 16S rRNA sequence of strain C-20Mo(T), which was used as the representative strain of t hese isolates, groups with the 16S rRNA sequences of members of the ge nus Bacillus, add the highest level of similarity is 95.4%, The type s train is strain C-20Mo (= ATCC 700290 = DSM 11483 = CCM 4646).