Research at the Center for Biological Defense identified plasmid-borne forms of Bacillus anthracis pXO2 genes in a Gram-positive, endospore-forming rod, isolated from a forensic specimen considered a credible threat of harbouring anthrax. Conventional, commercial and molecular-based methods indicated that the isolate (CBD 119T) was not B. anthracis and considered not to be a member of the Bacillus cereus group. Based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities, strain CBD 119T was most closely related to Bacillus luciferensis LMG 18422T (99.3 %). Phenotyping and fatty acid methyl ester analysis of the isolate were conducted alongside B. luciferensis JCM 12212T. The major cellular fatty acids (anteiso-C15 : 0, iso-C15 : 0, and >7 iso or anteiso forms) supported inclusion of the isolate in the genus Bacillus. Strain CBD 119T was inconsistent with B. luciferensis JCM 12212T for 18 of 96 traits evaluated including motility, degree of endospore-driven swelling and pH optimum; the two were linked by fatty acid methyl ester analysis as separate but closely related species. DNA–DNA relatedness between strain CBD 119T and B. luciferensis JCM 12212T resulted in less than 20 % hybridization. The results of biochemical and physiological characterization, chemotaxonomic analysis and DNA–DNA hybridization differentiated strain CBD 119T both phenotypically and genotypically from the only species with validly published name with greater than 97 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity. The isolate has an accelerated doubling time when grown in aerated broth at pH 5.9 relative to that at pH 7.1. Therefore, it is proposed that strain CBD 119T represents a novel species, Bacillus acidiceler sp. nov. The type strain is strain CBD 119T (=NRRL B-41736T=DSM 18954T).
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