Bacillus lehensis sp. nov., an alkalitolerant bacterium isolated from soil

A Gram-positive, endospore-forming, alkalitolerant bacterial strain, designated MLB2T, was isolated from soil from Leh, India, and was subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study. The strain exhibited phenotypic properties that included chemotaxonomic characteristics consistent with its classification in the genus Bacillus. Growth was observed at pH 7.0–11.0, but not at pH 6.0. The DNA G+C content was 41.4 mol%. The highest level of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity was with Bacillus oshimensis JCM 12663T (98.8 %). However, DNA–DNA hybridization experiments indicated low levels of genomic relatedness with the type strains of B. oshimensis (62 %), Bacillus patagoniensis (55 %), Bacillus clausii (51 %) and Bacillus gibsonii (34 %), the species with which strain MLB2T formed a coherent cluster (based on the results of the phylogenetic analysis). On the basis of the phenotypic characteristics and genotypic distinctiveness of strain MLB2T, it should be classified within a novel species of Bacillus, for which the name Bacillus lehensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is MLB2T (=MTCC 7633T=JCM 13820T).