Paenibacillus favisporus sp. nov., a xylanolytic bacterium isolated from cow faeces.

During a search for xylan-degrading micro-organisms, a sporulated bacterium was recovered from recent and old cow dung and rectal samples. The isolates were identified as members of a novel species of the genus Paenibacillus, based on 16S rRNA gene sequences. According to the results of phylogenetic analysis, the most closely related species was Paenibacillus azoreducens. Phenotypic and chemotaxonomic analyses and DNA-DNA hybridization experiments also showed that the isolates belonged to a novel species of the genus Paenibacillus. The novel species is a facultatively anaerobic, motile, Gram-variable, sporulated rod. The spores of this rod-shaped micro-organism occur in slightly swollen sporangia and are honeycomb-shaped. The main fatty acid is anteiso-branched C(15:0). Growth was observed with many carbohydrates, including xylan, as the only carbon source and gas production was not observed from glucose. The novel species produces a wide variety of hydrolytic enzymes, such as xylanases, cellulases, amylases, gelatinase, urease and beta-galactosidase. On the contrary, it does not produce caseinase, phenylalanine deaminase or lysine decarboxylase. According to the data obtained in this work, the strains belong to a novel species, for which the name Paenibacillus favisporus sp. nov. is proposed (type strain, GMP01T=LMG 20987T=CECT 5760T).