A Polyphasic Reassessment of the Genus Aneurinibacillus, Reclassification of Bacillus thermoaerophilus (Meier-Stauffer et al. 1996) as Aneurinibacillus thermoaerophilus comb, nov., and Emended Descriptions of A. aneurinilyticus corrig., A. migulanus, and A. thermoaerophilus

Fifty-three strains representing 25 species of aerobic endospore-forming bacteria, of which 11 (37 strains) belong to the genera Aneurinibacillus and Brevibacillus (Bacillus rRNA group 4 of Ash et al. [Lett. Appl. Microbiol. 13:202–206, 1991]), were characterized genotypically by amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA) and/or phenotypically by fatty acid methyl ester analysis, sodium dodecylsulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of whole-cell proteins, pyrolysis mass spectrometry, 99 API Biotype 100 assimilation tests, and 16 other routine phenotypic tests. ARDRA revealed that Aneurinibacillus aneurinilyticus, Aneurinibacillus migulanus, and Bacillus thermoaerophilus formed a cluster quite separate from Brevibacillus species, supporting the distinction of both genera and the transfer of B. thermoaerophilus to the genus Aneurinibacillus. Two of the species, A. aneurinilyticus (the type species) and A. migulanus, are phenotypically and genotypically quite similar but can be distinguished from each other by several phenotypic characters. Phenotypic differentiation at the generic level is also described.