Bacillus horneckiae sp. nov., isolated from a spacecraft-assembly clean room.
Five Gram-stain-positive, motile, aerobic strains were isolated from a clean room of the Kennedy Space Center where the Phoenix spacecraft was assembled. All strains are rod-shaped, spore-forming bacteria, whose spores were resistant to UV radiation up to 1000 J m(-2). The spores were subterminally positioned and produced an external layer. A polyphasic taxonomic study including traditional biochemical tests, fatty acid analysis, cell-wall typing, lipid analyses, 16S rRNA gene sequencing and DNA-DNA hybridization studies was performed to characterize these novel strains. 16S rRNA gene sequencing and lipid analyses convincingly grouped these novel strains within the genus Bacillus as a cluster separate from already described species. The similarity of 16S rRNA gene sequences among the novel strains was >99 %, but the similarity was only about 97 % with their nearest neighbours Bacillus pocheonensis, Bacillus firmus and Bacillus bataviensis. DNA-DNA hybridization dissociation values were <24 % to the closest related type strains. The novel strains had a G+C content 35.6+/-0.5 mol% and could liquefy gelatin but did not utilize or produce acids from any of the carbon substrates tested. The major fatty acids were iso-C(15 : 0) and anteiso-C(15 : 0) and the cell-wall diamino acid was meso-diaminopimelic acid. Based on phylogenetic and phenotypic results, it is concluded that these strains represent a novel species of the genus Bacillus, for which the name Bacillus horneckiae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is 1P01SC(T) (=NRRL B-59162(T) =MTCC 9535(T)).
Vaishampayan
Parag
P
Biotechnology and Planetary Protection Group, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
Probst
Alexander
A
Biotechnology and Planetary Protection Group, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
Krishnamurthi
Srinivasan
S
Microbial Type Culture Collection and Gene Bank (MTCC), Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh 160 036, India.
Ghosh
Sudeshna
S
Biotechnology and Planetary Protection Group, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
Osman
Shariff
S
Biotechnology and Planetary Protection Group, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
McDowall
Alasdair
A
Broad and Beckman Research Centers, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
Ruckmani
Arunachalam
A
Microbial Type Culture Collection and Gene Bank (MTCC), Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh 160 036, India.
Mayilraj
Shanmugam
S
Microbial Type Culture Collection and Gene Bank (MTCC), Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh 160 036, India.
Venkateswaran
Kasthuri
K
Biotechnology and Planetary Protection Group, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
D001407:Bacillus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology; D015373:Bacterial Typing Techniques; D001482:Base Composition; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000032:analysis; D004783:Environmental Microbiology; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000032:analysis; D020459:Genes, rRNA; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization; D010641:Phenotype; D010802:Phylogeny; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S / Q000235:genetics; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D018531:Spacecraft; D013045:Species Specificity
D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D005227:Fatty Acids; D012336:RNA, Ribosomal, 16S