A POLYPHASIC REASSESSMENT OF THE GENUS ANEURINIBACILLUS, RECLASSIFICATION OF BACILLUS-THERMOAEROPHILUS (MEIER-STAUFFER ET-AL 1996) AS ANEURINIBACILLUS-THERMOAEROPHILUS COMB-NOV, AND EMENDED DESCRIPTIONS OF A-ANEURINILYTICUS CORRIG, A-MIGULANUS, AND A-THERMOAEROPHILUS

Fifty-three strains representing 25 species of aerobic endospore-formi ng bacteria, of which 11 (37 strains) belong to the genera Aneurinibac illus and Brevibacillus (Bacillus rRNA group 4 of Ash et al, [Lett, Ap pl, Microbiol. 13:202-206, 1991]), were characterized genotypically by amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA) and/or phenotypi cally by fatty acid methyl ester analysis, sodium dodecylsulfate-polya crylamide gel electrophoresis of whole-cell proteins, pyrolysis mass s pectrometry, 99 API Biotype 100 assimilation tests, and 16 other routi ne phenotypic tests, ARDRA revealed that Aneurinibacillus aneurinilyti cus, Aneurinibacillus migulanus, and Bacillus thermoaerophilus formed a cluster quite separate from Brevibacillus species, supporting the di stinction of both genera and the transfer of B. thermoaerophilus to th e genus Aneurinibacillus, Two of the species, A. aneurinilyticus (the type species) and A. migulanus, are phenotypically and genotypically q uite similar but can be distinguished from each other by several pheno typic characters, Phenotypic differentiation at the generic level is a lso described.