Paenibacillus etheri sp. nov., able to grow on media supplemented with methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) and isolated from hydrocarbon-contaminated soil.

A bacterial strain, designated SH7T, was isolated from the hydrocarbon-contaminated soil of a pilot plant (Granada, Spain). The strain was selected for its capacity to grow in media supplemented with methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) as sole energy and carbon source. Strain SH7T was a Gram-stain-positive, facultatively anaerobic, spore-forming, rod-shaped bacterium. Phylogenetic analysis using 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain SH7T belongs to a cluster comprising species of the genus Paenibacillus and was closely related to Paenibacillus borealis KK19T (97 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity) and Paenibacillus odorifer TOD45T (98 %). DNA-DNA hybridization tests showed low relatedness of strain SH7T with the type strains of Paenibacillus borealis (16.9 ± 1.5 %) and Paenibacillus odorifer (16.6 ± 2.1 %). The cell wall of strain SH7T contained meso-diaminopimelic acid. The predominant respiratory quinone was MK-7, and anteiso-C15 : 0 (32.9 %) and C16 : 0 (29.0 %) were the predominant cellular fatty acids. Phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol and three unknown aminophospholipids were the major phospholipids. The DNA G+C content was 44.3 mol%. Data obtained in this study indicate that strain SH7T represents a novel species of the genus Paenibacillus, for which the name Paenibacillus etheri sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is SH7T ( = CECT 8558T = DSM 29760T).