Paenibacillus harenae sp nov., isolated from desert sand in China

A Gram-positive, endospore-forming, rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain B519(T), was isolated from a desert sand sample of Gansu Province, China. Strain B519(T) was strictly aerobic and cells were motile by means of peritrichous flagella. The strain grow optimally at 32-35 degrees C and pH 6.5-7.0. Chemotaxonomic data supported the affiliation of the new isolate to the genus Paenibacillus, including menaquinone-7 (MK-7) as the major isoprenoid quinone, DNA G+C content of 49.9 mol%, cell-wall type A1 gamma (meso-diaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic diamino acid) and anteiso-C-15:0, iso-C-15:0, C-16:0 and iso-C-16:0 as the major fatty acids. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that strain B519(T) was most closely related to Paenibacillus alkaliterrae KSL-134(T) (98.0% Similarity). DNA-DNA relatedness between strain B519(T) and P. alkaliterrae KSL-134(T) was about 12.3%. On the basis of phenotypic characteristics and molecular properties, strain B519(T) is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Paenibacillus, for which the name Paenibacillus harenae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is B519(T) (=KCTC 3951(T) =DSM 16969(T)).