Bacillus lehensis sp nov., an alkalitolerant bacterium isolated from soil

A Gram-positive, endospore-forming, alkalitolerant bacterial strain, designated MLB2(T), was isolated from soil from Leh, India, and was subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study. The strain exhibited phenotypic properties that included chemotaxonomic characteristics consistent with its classification in the genus Bacillus. Growth was observed at pH 7.0-11.0, but not at pH 6.0. The DNA G+C content was 41.4 mol%. The highest level of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity was with Bacillus oshimensis JCM 12663(T) (98.8%). However, DNA-DNA hybridization experiments indicated low levels of genomic relatedness with the type strains of B. oshimensis (62 %), Bacillus patagoniensis (55 %), Bacillus clausii (51 %) and Bacillus gibsonii (34 %), the species with which strain MLB2(T) formed a coherent cluster (based on the results of the phylogenetic analysis). On the basis of the phenotypic characteristics and genotypic distinctiveness of strain MLB2(T), it should be classified within a novel species of Bacillus, for which the name Bacillus lehensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is MLB2(T) (=MTCC 7633 T=jCM 13820T).