Bacillus bogoriensis sp. nov., a novel alkaliphilic, halotolerant bacterium isolated from a Kenyan soda lake

Abstract

Strain LBB3(T) isolated from Bogoria soda lake in Kenya is an alkaliphilic, Gram-positive, strictly aerobic, non-motile, spore-forming bacterium. It was identified as a member of the genus Bacillus on the basis of phenotypic and phylogenetic analyses. The organism grows optimally at 37 degrees C and pH 10. The G+C content of the genomic DNA is 37.5 mol%. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed 95 and 96 % sequence similarity with Bacillus pseudofirmus (DSM 8715(T)) and Bacillus alcalophilus (DSM 485(T)), respectively. Furthermore, DNA-DNA hybridization against these two Bacillus species showed 39.0 and 55.5 % similarity, respectively. Based on our observations, strain LBB3(T) is proposed to represent a novel species of the genus Bacillus, for which the name Bacillus bogoriensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of B. bogoriensis is LBB3(T) (=ATCC BAA-922(T)=LMG 22234(T)).