A Gram-stain-positive, strictly aerobic, rod-shaped, motile, endospore-forming strain, SYSU K30001T, was isolated from a soil sample collected from a cave in Xingyi county, Guizhou province, south-west China. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain SYSU K30001T belonged to the genus Bacillus, with the highest sequence similarity to the type strain of Bacillus panaciterrae (98.1 %). Growth occurred at pH 6.0-9.0 (optimum, pH 7.0), at 28-55 °C (optimum, 28 °C) and in the presence of 0-3 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum in the absence of NaCl). Strain SYSU K30001T contained meso-2,6-diaminopimelic acid in the cell-wall peptidoglycan and MK-7 as the only isoprenoid quinone present. The polar lipids consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and an unidentified glycolipid. The major fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0, iso-C17 : 1ω10c, anteiso-C14 : 0 and iso-C17 : 0. The genome G+C content was 39.8 mol%. The average nucleotide identity values between SYSU K30001T and B. panaciterrae DSM 19096T were 72.1 % (ANIb) and 83.1 % (ANIm), which were below the cut-off level (95-96 %) for species delineation. Based on phenotypic, chemotaxonomic and molecular characterizations, strain SYSU K30001T represents a novel species of the genus Bacillus, for which the name Bacillus antri sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SYSU K30001T (=KCTC 33954T=CGMCC 1.13871T).
Keywords: Bacillus antri; cave soil; genome analysis.