Abstract

A Gram-positive, rod-shaped, endospore-forming organism, strain BL3-6T, was isolated from tidal flat sediments of the Yellow Sea in the region of Tae-An. A 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis demonstrated that this isolate belongs to the Bacillus cereus group, and is closely related to Bacillus mycoides (99.0% similarity), Bacillus thuringiensis (99.0%), Bacillus weihenstephanensis (99.0%), Bacillus cereus (98.9%), Bacillus anthracis (98.8%), and Bacillus pseudomycoides (98.1%). The phylogenetic distance from any validly described Bacillus species outside the Bacillus cereus group was less than 95.6%. The DNA G+C content of the strain was 39.4 mol% and the major respiratory quinone was menaquinone-7. The major cellular fatty acids were iso-C14:0 (17.8%), iso-C16:0 (15.8%), and iso-C12:0 (11.3%). The diagnostic amino acid of the cell wall was mesodiaminopimelic acid and the major cell wall sugar was galactose. The results of DNA-DNA hybridization (<55.6%) and physiological and biochemical tests allowed genotypic and phenotypic differentiation of strain BL3-6T from the published Bacillus species. BL3-6T therefore represents a new species, for which the name Bacillus gaemokensis sp. nov. is proposed, with the type strain BL3-6T (=KCTC 13318T =JCM 15801T).

• Keywords: B. cereus; B. gaemokensis sp. nov.; phylogenetic; new species