Bacillus aurantiacus sp nov., an alkaliphilic and moderately halophilic bacterium isolated from Hungarian soda lakes

Three alkaliphilic and moderately halophilic strains designated K1-5(T), K1-10 and B1-1, characterized by optimal growth at pH 9.0-10.0 and at 3-7 % (w/v) NaCl, were isolated from extremely shallow, alkaline soda lakes located in Hungary. Cells of the strains are Gram-positive, straight rods and form a central to subterminal, ellipsoidal endospore. The isolates are strictly aerobic, catalase-positive, oxidase-negative and contain a peptidoglycan of type A1 gamma based on meso-diaminopimelic acid. In strain K1-5(T), menaquinone-7 (MK-7) is the predominant isoprenoid quinone and anteiso-C-15: 0 is the major cellular fatty acid. The DNA G + C content of strain K1-5(T) is 42.9 mol%. 16S rRNA gene-based phylogenetic analysis revealed that the strains exhibit levels of sequence similarity of less than 95.8 % to known Bacillus species. According to the polyphasic characterization, the strains represent a novel species, for which the name Bacillus aurantiacus sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is K1-5(T) (=DSM 18675(T) =CCM 7447(T) =NCAIM B002265(T)).