Cerasibacillus terrae sp. nov., isolated from maize field, and emended description of Cerasibacillus quisquiliarum Nakamura et al. 2004

A polyphasic taxonomic approach was used to characterize a Gram-stain-positive bacterium, designated strain CC-CFT480 T , isolated from soil sampled in a maize field in Taiwan, ROC. Cells of strain CC-CFT480 T were rod-shaped, motile with polar flagella, catalase-positive and oxidase-positive. Optimal growth occurred at 30 °С, pH 8 and 3 % NaCl. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA genes revealed a distinct taxonomic position attained by strain CC-CFT480 T associated with Cerasibacillus quisquiliarum (97.2 % sequence identity), Virgibacillus soli (95.7 %), Virgibacillus carmonensis (95.4 %) and Virgibacillus byunsanensis (95.2 %), and lower sequence similarity values to other species. Average nucleotide identity (ANI) and digital DNA–DNA hybridization (dDDH) values between strain CC-CFT480 T and C. quisquiliarum were 74.2 and 20.1 %, respectively. Strain CC-CFT480 T contained iso-C 15:0 , C 16:1 ω7 c alcohol and iso-C 17:1 ω 10 c as the predominant fatty acids. The polar lipid profile consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol, two unknown aminophospholipids, one uncharacterized aminophospholipid and two unknown phospholipids. The major polyamine was spermidine. The DNA G+C content was 34.8 mol% and the predominant quinone was menaquinone 7 (MK-7). Based on its distinct phylogenetic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic traits together with results of comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence, ANI and dDDH analyses, strain CC-CFT480 T is proposed to represent a novel Cerasibacillus species, for which the name Cerasibacillus terrae sp. nov. (type strain CC-CFT480 T =BCRC 81216 T =JCM 33498 T ).