Anoxybacillus suryakundensis sp. nov, a Moderately Thermophilic, Alkalitolerant Bacterium Isolated from Hot Spring at Jharkhand, India

Abstract

Four closely related facultative anaerobe, moderately thermophilic, Gram positive rods (JS1 ^T, JS5, JS11, and JS15) were isolated from sediment samples from a hot spring at Suryakund, Jharkhand, India. Colonies were pale yellow, rough surface with uneven edges on TSA after 72 h incubation. Heterotrophic growth was observed at 40-60°C and pH 5.5-11.5; optimum growth occurred at 55°C and pH 7.5. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed the strains belong to genus Anoxybacillus. DNA-DNA homology values among strains were above 70% and showed distinct ERIC and REP PCR profile. On the basis of morphology and biochemical characteristics, strain JS1 ^T was studied further. Strain JS1 ^T showed 99.30% sequence similarity with A. flavithermus subsp. yunnanensis, 99.23% with A. mongoliensis, 99.16% with A. eryuanensis, 98.74% with A. flavithermus subsp. flavithermus, 98.54% with A. tengchongensis, 98.51% with A. pushchinoensis, 97.91% with A. thermarum, 97.82% with A. kaynarcensis, 97.77% with A. ayderensis and A. kamchatkensis, 97.63% with A. salavatliensis, 97.55% with A. kestanbolensis, 97.48% with A. contaminans, 97.27% with A. gonensis and 97.17% with A. voinovskiensis. In 16S rRNA secondary structure based phylogenetic comparison, strain JS1 ^T was clustered with Anoxybacillus eryuanensis, A. mongoliensis, and A. flavithermus subsp. yunnanensis and showed 15 species specific base substitutions with maximum variability in helix 6. Moreover, DNA-DNA relatedness between JS1 ^T and the closely related type strains were well below 70%. The DNA G+C content was 42.1 mol%. The major fatty acids were C _{15:0 iso}, C _{16:0 iso} and C _17:0iso. The polar lipids were a phosphatidylgylycerol, a diphosphatidylglycerol, a phosphatidylethnolamine, a phosphatidylcholine, a phosphatidyl monomethylethanolamine and four unknown lipids. Based on polyphasic approach, strain JS1 ^T represent a novel species of the genus Anoxybacillus for which Anoxybacillus suryakundensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is JS1 ^T (= DSM 27374 ^T = LMG 27616 ^T =JCM19211 ^T).