Bacillus bingmayongensis sp. nov., isolated from the pit soil of Emperor Qin’s Terra-cotta warriors in China

Abstract

A Bacillus-like isolate, strain FJAT-13831(T), isolated from the No. 1 pit soil of Emperor Qin's Terra-cotta Warriors in Xi'an City, China, was studied to determine its taxonomic status. Dominant fatty acids of this organism included iso-C15:0, iso-C17:0, C16:0, iso-C13:0, anteiso-C15:0, and iso-C17:1ω5c. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis confirmed the affiliation of this isolate to the genus Bacillus and indicated that it was closely related to Bacillus pseudomycoides DSM 12442(T) (99.72 % similarity). A phylogenetic analysis of the gyrB gene sequence similarities exhibited independent clustering of the isolate FJAT-13831(T) and showed 93.8 % (<95 %) sequence similarity with its closest phylogenetic neighbour B. pseudomycoides DSM 12442(T). Separate standing of the strain FJAT-13831(T) was supported by a whole genome-based phylogenetic analysis with an average nucleotide identity value of 91.47 (<95 %) between isolate FJAT-13831(T) and B. pseudomycoides DSM 12442(T) and was consistent with the results of DNA-DNA hybridization (69.1 % relatedness). These findings support the conclusion that the isolate FJAT-13831(T) represents a novel species, for which the name Bacillus bingmayongensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is FJAT-13831(T) (= CGMCC 1.12043(T) = DSM 25427(T)).