Proposal of Effusibacillus lacus gen. nov., sp. nov., and reclassification of Alicyclobacillus pohliae as Effusibacillus pohliae comb. nov. and Alicyclobacillus consociatus as Effusibacillus consociatus comb. nov.

A novel thermophilic, facultatively anaerobic bacterium, strain skLN1(T), was isolated from the sediment of a freshwater lake in Japan. Cells of strain skLN1(T) were rod-shaped and Gram-stain-variable. A KOH lysis test suggested that the cell wall of the isolate has a Gram-positive structure. For aerobic growth, the optimum pH was pH 7.25-7.50 and the optimum temperature was 50-52 °C. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 50.8 mol%. Nitrate was reduced to nitrite. Alicyclic fatty acids were not detected, and branched-chain fatty acids were major components in the cellular fatty acid profile. MK-7 was the predominant respiratory quinone. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that the isolated strain was related most closely to Alicyclobacillus consociatus CCUG 53762(T) (95% similarity). This analysis also showed that the monophyly of the genus Alicyclobacillus had been lost. On the basis of phylogenetic and phenotypic characterization, Effusibacillus lacus gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of Effusibacillus lacus is skLN1(T) ( = NBRC 109614(T) = DSM 27172(T)). It is also proposed that Alicyclobacillus pohliae and Alicyclobacillus consociatus should be reclassified to the genus Effusibacillus as Effusibacillus pohliae comb. nov. and Effusibacillus consociatus comb. nov., respectively.