Cerasibacillus terrae sp. nov., isolated from maize field, and emended description of Cerasibacillus quisquiliarum Nakamura et al. 2004

A polyphasic taxonomic approach was used to characterize a Gram stainpositive bacterium, designated strain CCCFT480(T), isolated from soil sampled in a maize field in Taiwan, ROC. Cells of strain CCCFT480(T) were rodshaped, motile with polar flagella, catalasepositive and oxidasepositive. Optimal growth occurred at 30 degrees C, pH 8 and 3 % NaCl. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA genes revealed a distinct taxonomic position attained by strain CCCFT480(T) associated with Cerasibacillus quisquiliarum (97.2 % sequence identity), Virgibacillus soli (95.7 %), Virgibacillus carmonensis (95.4 %) and Virgibacillus byunsanensis (95.2 %), and lower sequence similarity values to other species. Average nucleotide identity (ANI) and digital DNA-DNA hybridization (dDDH) values between strain CCCFT480(T) and C. quisquiliarum were 74.2 and 20.1 %, respectively. Strain CCCFT480(T) contained iso-C-15:0, C-16:1 omega 7c alcohol and iso-C-17:1 omega 10c as the predominant fatty acids. The polar lipid profile consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, two unknown aminophospholipids, one uncharacterized aminophospholipid and two unknown phospholipids. The major polyamine was spermidine. The DNA G+C content was 34.8 mol% and the predominant quinone was menaquinone 7 (MK-7). Based on its distinct phylogenetic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic traits together with results of comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence, ANI and dDDH analyses, strain CCCFT480(T) is proposed to represent a novel Cerasibacillus species, for which the name Cerasibacillus terrae sp. nov. (type strain CC-CFT480(T)=BCRC 81216(T)=JCM 33498(T)).