Bacillus glennii sp. nov. and Bacillus saganii sp. nov., isolated from the vehicle assembly building at Kennedy Space Center where the Viking spacecraft were assembled

Two Gram-stain-positive, motile, endospore-forming, aerobic strains, designated V44-8 T and V47-23a T , were isolated from environmental air sampling at the vehicle assembly building at Cape Canaveral, Florida, where the Viking spacecraft were assembled. Growth was observed at pH 7-9 (optimum, pH 9) for strain V44-8 T , and pH 5-10 (pH 9) for strain V47-23a T . Both strains displayed growth in 0-5 % NaCl with an optimum at 1 % for strain V44-8 T ; 0 % for strain V47-23a T . Strains V44-8 T and V47-23a T grew optimally at 32 °C, (15-32 °C) and 25 °C (20-45 °C), respectively. The cell wall of both strains contained meso-diaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic diamino acid. Both strains contained phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and diphosphatidylglycerol. The predominant cellular fatty acids were anteiso-C 15 : 0 , iso-C 14 : 0 and iso-C 15 : 0 . Strain V47.23a T shared its highest 16S rRNA sequence similarity with Bacillus cavernae DSM-105484 T at 96.9%, and V44.8 T with Bacillus zeae DSM-103964 T at 96.6 %. Based on their phenotypic characteristics and phylogenetic position inferred from 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses, the isolates were identified as being a members of the genus Bacillus that forms a separate clade when compared to close relatives. Average nucleotide identity and average amino acid identity values between strains V44-8 T and DSM-103964 T were 72.1% and 67.5 %; V47-23a T and DSM-105484 T were 62.4% and 69.1%, respectively. Based on the phenotypic, genomic and biochemical data, strains V44-8 T and V47-23a T represent two novel species in the genus Bacillus for which the names Bacillus glennii sp. nov. [type strain, V44-8 T (=ATCC BAA-2860 T =DSM 105192 T )], and Bacillus saganii sp. nov. [V47-23a T (=ATCC BAA-2861 T =DSM 105190 T )] are proposed.