Bacillus telluris sp. nov. Isolated from Greenhouse Soil in Beijing, China

Abstract

A novel Gram-stain-positive, rod-shaped, endospore-forming bacterium, which we designated as strain 03113^T, was isolated from greenhouse soil in Beijing, China. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed strain 03113^T is in the genus <i>Bacillus</i> and had the highest similarity to <i>Bacillus solani</i> CCTCC AB 2014277^T (98.14%). The strain grew at 4 °C-50 °C (optimum 37 °C), with 0-10% (<i>w/v</i>) NaCl (optimum 5%), and in the range of pH 3.0-12.0 (optimum pH 8.0). Menaquinone was identified as MK-7, and the major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, and phosphatidylethanolamine. The main major cellular fatty acids detected were anteiso-C_15:0 (51.35%) and iso-C_15:0 (11.06%), which are the predominant cellular fatty acids found in all recognized members of the genus <i>Bacillus</i>. The 16S rRNA gene sequence and core-genome analysis, the average nucleotide identity (ANI), and in silico DNA-DNA hybridization (DDH) value between strain 03113^T and the most closely related species were 70.5% and 22.6%, respectively, which supported our conclusion that 03113^T represented a novel species in the genus <i>Bacillus</i>. We demonstrated that type strain 03113^T (=ACCC 03113^T=JCM 33017^T) was a novel species in the genus <i>Bacillus</i>, and the name <i>Bacillus telluris</i> sp. nov. was proposed. Strain 03113^T secreted auxin IAA and carried the nitrogenase iron protein (<i>nifH</i>) gene, which indicated that strain 03113^T has the potential to fix nitrogen and promote plant growth. <i>Bacillus telluris</i> sp. nov. 03113^T is a potential candidate for the biofertilizers of organic agriculture areas.