Paenibacillus gansuensis sp. nov., isolated from desert soil of Gansu Province in China.

A Gram-positive, endospore-forming, rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain B518(T), was isolated from a desert-soil sample from Gansu Province in China. The isolate was strictly aerobic and was motile by means of several flagella. The strain grew optimally at 35-40 degrees C and at pH 7.0-7.5. The predominant fatty acids of strain B518(T) were anteiso-C(15 : 0), C(16 : 0), anteiso-C(17 : 0), iso-C(16 : 0) and iso-C(15 : 0). The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 50 mol% and the predominant quinone was MK-7. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses showed that strain B518(T) formed a distinct phyletic line within the genus Paenibacillus and was most closely related to Paenibacillus chitinolyticus IFO 15660(T), with a 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of 95.8 %. The levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity with respect to other type strains of Paenibacillus species were below 95.1 %. On the basis of the chemotaxonomic data and molecular properties, strain B518(T) represents a novel species within the genus Paenibacillus, for which the name Paenibacillus gansuensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is B518(T) (=KCTC 3950(T)=DSM 16968(T)).