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Bacillus acidiceler sp. nov., isolated from a forensic specimen, containing Bacillus anthracis pX02 genes

K. Kealy Peak¹, Kathleen E. Duncan², William Veguilla¹, Vicki A. Luna¹, Debra S. King¹, Loreé Heller^1,, Lea Heberlein-Larson³, Frank Reeves³, Andrew C. Cannons¹, Philip Amuso^1,3 and Jacqueline Cattani¹

¹ USF Center for Biological Defense, College of Public Health, University of South Florida, 3602 Spectrum Blvd, Tampa, FL 33612-9401, USA
² University of Oklahoma, Department of Botany and Microbiology, 770 Van Vleet Oval, Norman, OK 73019-6131, USA
³ Florida Department of Health, Bureau of Laboratories, 3602 Spectrum Blvd, Tampa, FL 33612-9401, USA

Correspondence
K. K. Peak
kpeak1{at}health.usf.edu

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 119^T) 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 119^T was most closely related to Bacillus luciferensis LMG 18422^T (99.3 %). Phenotyping and fatty acid methyl ester analysis of the isolate were conducted alongside B. luciferensis JCM 12212^T. The major cellular fatty acids (anteiso-C_{15 : 0}, iso-C_{15 : 0}, and >7 iso or anteiso forms) supported inclusion of the isolate in the genus Bacillus. Strain CBD 119^T was inconsistent with B. luciferensis JCM 12212^T 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 119^T and B. luciferensis JCM 12212^T resulted in less than 20 % hybridization. The results of biochemical and physiological characterization, chemotaxonomic analysis and DNA–DNA hybridization differentiated strain CBD 119^T 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 119^T represents a novel species, Bacillus acidiceler sp. nov. The type strain is strain CBD 119^T (=NRRL B-41736^T=DSM 18954^T).

Present address: Esoteric Testing, Pathology Department, Tampa General Hospital, Tampa, FL 33601, USA.

The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession number for the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain CBD 119^T is DQ374637.

Supplementary tables are available with the online version of this paper.