Abstract

Strain DY6T, a Gram-positive endospore-forming motile rodshaped bacterium, was isolated from soil in South Korea and characterized to determine its taxonomic position. Phylogenetic analyses based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain DY6T revealed that strain DY6T belongs to the genus Paenibacillus in the family Paenibacillaceae in the class Bacilli. The highest degree of sequence similarities of strain DY6T were found with Paenibacillus gansuensis B518T (97.9%), P. chitinolyticus IFO 15660T (95.3%), P. chinjuensis WN9T (94.7%), and P. rigui WPCB173T (94.7%). Chemotaxonomic data revealed that the predominant fatty acids were anteiso-C15:0 (38.7%) and C16:0 (18.0%). A complex polar lipid profile consisted of major amounts of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, and phosphatidylglycerol. The predominant respiratory quinone was MK-7. Based on these phylogenetic, chemotaxonomic, and phenotypic data, strain DY6T (=KCTC 33026T =JCM 18491T) should be classified as a type strain of a novel species, for which the name Paenibacillus swuensis sp. nov. is proposed.

• Keywords: Bacilli; Paenibacillaceae; Paenibacillus; taxonomy