Novel Anoxybacillus flavithermus AK1: A Thermophile Isolated from a Hot Spring in Saudi Arabia

Anoxybacillus flavithermus AK1 is a thermophilic bacterium that is able to survive at temperatures ranging from 55 to 60\({^{\circ}}\hbox {C}\). The AK1 strain was isolated from the hot spring “Al-Ain Alhara” located at a distance of 50 km southeast of the city of Gazan, Saudi Arabia. This study presents the morphological characterization of A. flavithermus AK1, including a detailed description of its complete genome sequence. A total of 50 contigs were used to produce a genome sequence of 2,630,664 bp that includes 2724 protein-coding genes and 75 RNA genes, 18 of which are rRNA genes. A comparison of this genome sequence with those of Anoxybacillus flavithermus strains that were previously submitted to NCBI revealed that the AK1 strain has the smallest genome size with the highest GC content. The strain can therefore be exploited for several biotechnological applications based on its high thermophilic potential.