Bacillus lycopersici sp. nov., isolated from a tomato plant (Solanum lycopersicum L.)

A Gram-stain-positive, rod-shaped, endospore-forming bacterium (designated strain CC-Bw-5T) was isolated from chopped tomato stems. The isolate grew at 20–40 °C, pH 6.0–8.0 and tolerated 6 % (w/v) NaCl. The most closely related strains in terms of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity wereBacillus isabeliae(95.3 %) andBacillus oleronius(95.3 %). The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 37.2 ± 3.6 mol%. Strain CC-Bw-5Twas determined to possess C16 : 0, iso-C14 : 0, iso-C15 : 0, anteiso-C15 : 0and iso-C16 : 0as predominant fatty acids. The polar lipid profile consisted of predominant amounts of diphosphatidylglycerol, and moderate-to-trace amounts of phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, two unidentified glycolipids, an unidentified phospholipid and an unidentified phosphoglycolipid. The cell-wall peptidoglycan containedmeso-diaminopimelic acid; menaquinone (MK-7) was the predominant respiratory quinone. According to distinct phylogenetic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic features, strain CC-Bw-5Tis proposed to represent a novel species within the genusBacillusfor which the nameBacillus lycopersicisp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CC-Bw-5T( = BCRC 80623T = JCM 19140T).