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A group of 42 isolates were isolated from the soil of several disused hay fields, in the Drentse A agricultural research area (The Netherlands), that were taken out of production at different times. The group represents hitherto-uncultured Bacillus lineages that have previously been found, by a non-cultural method, to be predominant in soil. The strains were subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study, including (GTG)5-PCR, 16S rDNA sequence analysis, DNA–DNA hybridizations, DNA base-ratio determination, fatty acid analysis and morphological and biochemical characterization. By comparing the groupings obtained by (GTG)5-PCR and 16S rDNA sequence analysis, six clusters of similar strains could be recognized. A DNA–DNA relatedness study showed that these clusters represented five novel genospecies. Further analysis supported the proposal of five novel species in the genus Bacillus, namely Bacillus novalis sp. nov. (type strain IDA3307T=R-15439T=LMG 21837T=DSM 15603T), Bacillus vireti sp. nov. (type strain IDA3632T=R-15447T=LMG 21834T=DSM 15602T), Bacillus soli sp. nov. (type strain IDA0086T=R-16300T=LMG 21838T=DSM 15604T), Bacillus bataviensis sp. nov. (type strain IDA1115T=R-16315T=LMG 21833T=DSM 15601T) and Bacillus drentensis sp. nov. (type strain IDA1967T=R-16337T=LMG 21831T=DSM 15600T).

Endospore-forming bacteria were recovered from individual packages from different processing lines in a dairy plant during a tenacious periodical contamination of their UHT-milk production. Two colony types were seen, one of which was identified as Bacillus sporothermodurans. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene of the second colony type placed these isolates within the genus Paenibacillus, with Paenibacillus lautus as the closest known relative. Moreover, over 99 % similarity was observed to the 16S rDNA sequence of MB 2035, a strain isolated previously from raw milk during a survey at dairy farms for very heat-resistant spore-forming bacteria. Nine other potentially closely related strains among the dairy farm isolates were found using rep-PCR typing. The taxonomic positions of these 19 isolates were further investigated using 16S rRNA gene sequencing and DNA-DNA hybridizations of representative strains. All 19 isolates shared a high degree of phenotypic similarity and were easily distinguished from closely related members of the genus. Anteiso-C 15 : 0 , C 16 : 0 and iso-C 15 : 0 were among the major fatty acids and the genomic DNA G+C content was 51?6-51?7 mol%. Therefore, based on their phenotypic, phylogenetic and genomic distinctiveness, these 19 strains, isolated from both raw and heat-treated milk, are placed in the genus Paenibacillus as Paenibacillus lactis sp. nov. The type strain is MB 1871 T (=LMG 21940 T =DSM 15596 T ).Paenibacillus strains have been isolated from a variety of sources including soil, the rhizosphere, water, diseased insect larvae and foods (Daane et al., 2002) Detailed strain information, DNA-DNA relatedness and G+C content data, a full phylogenetic tree and a photomicrograph of sporangia and vegetative cells of the type strain are available as supplementary material in IJSEM Online.Abbreviations: ARDRA, amplified rDNA restriction analysis; FAME, fatty acid methyl ester.

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A sample of mossy soil taken from the eastern lava flow of northern Candlemas Island, South Sandwich archipelago, yielded six isolates of aerobic, endospore-forming bacteria. Miniaturized routine phenotypic tests and other observations, amplified rDNA restriction analysis and SDS-PAGE analysis suggested that the strains represent a novel taxon. 16S rDNA sequence comparisons support the proposal of a novel species, Bacillus shackletonii sp. nov., the type strain of which is LMG 18435T (=CIP 107762T).