A polyphasic study was undertaken to clarify the taxonomic position of endospore-forming strains 433-D9, 433-E17 and 121-X1. BOX-PCR-generated fingerprints indicated that they may be members of a single species. 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity demonstrated that a representative of this group, 433-D9, is affiliated closely with Bacillus arvi DSM 16317T (100 %), Bacillus arenosi DSM 16319T (99.8 %) and Bacillus neidei NRRL BD-87T (97.1 %). Sequence similarities revealed Bacillus pycnus NRRL NRS-1691T and several Kurthia species as the next nearest relatives. DNA–DNA hybridization results showed that strain 433-D9 is a member of B. arvi. Detection of l-Lys–d-Asp-based peptidoglycan in strain 433-D9, B. arvi DSM 16317T and B. arenosi DSM 16319T was in agreement with their close relationship, but differentiated these strains from B. neidei NRRL BD-87T and B. pycnus NRRL NRS-1691T, for which l-Lys–d-Glu was reported. A similar quinone system was detected in strains 433-D9, 433-E17, 121-X1, B. arvi DSM 16317T, B. arenosi DSM 16319T and B. neidei NRRL BD-87T. This system, unusual for bacilli, consisted of the major compound menaquinone MK-8 (69–80 %) and moderate amounts of MK-7 (19–30 %). This observation was in contrast to the predominance of MK-7 of the closest relative B. pycnus NRRL NRS-1691T, as also reported for representatives of the closely related non-endospore-forming genus Kurthia. Strains 433-D9, B. arvi DSM 16317T and B. arenosi DSM 16319T exhibited homogeneous and discriminative polar lipid profiles and fatty acid profiles consisting of major acids i-C15 : 0 and ai-C15 : 0 and moderate amounts of i-C17 : 1 ω10c and i-C17 : 1 I/ai-C17 : 1 B that discriminated them from closely related strains such as B. neidei NRRL BD-87T. On the basis of clear-cut discriminative chemotaxonomic markers, we propose strains 433-D9, 433-E17 and 121-X1, B. arvi DSM 16317T, B. arenosi DSM 16319T and B. neidei NRRL BD-87T to be reclassified within a separate genus. For this new taxon, we propose the name Viridibacillus gen. nov., and we propose the reclassification of Bacillus arvi, Bacillus arenosi and Bacillus neidei as Viridibacillus arvi gen. nov., comb. nov. (the type species of Viridibacillus, with the type strain DSM 16317T =LMG 22165T), Viridibacillus arenosi comb. nov. (type strain DSM 16319T =LMG 22166T) and Viridibacillus neidei comb. nov. (type strain NRRL BD-87T =DSM 15031T =JCM 11077T).

[1] Although the low-order present stress field of most continents is fairly well established, information on paleostress fields is generally sparse. Knowledge of paleostresses is crucial for understanding brittle tectonic reactivation through time. The Indian-Australian plate lends itself well to a reconstruction of paleostresses, as it has undergone enormous changes in plate-driving forces through the Tertiary, and there is a rich record of fault reactivation from sedimentary basins. We reconstruct the plate boundary configuration and age-area distribution of ocean crust around Australia through time to obtain estimates for ridge push, slab pull, and collisional forces acting on the Indian-Australian plate since the Eocene. Other model parameters we explore are the effects of the Australian-Antarctic discordance and the mechanical strength of the Australian continental margin. We apply these constraints to model the orientation of the maximum horizontal compressive stress (S Hmax ) regime for the present, early Miocene, and early Eocene using the commercial software ABAQUS 2 along with the optimization software Nimrod/O. We use an elastic two-dimensional plane stress finite element model with a resolution of $0.2°in both longitude and latitude. Realistic elastic parameters representing different rock types and geologic provinces for the Australian continent have been included to model the stress field of a heterogeneous plate. We show that spatially significant rotations of S Hmax directions can be modeled as a consequence of perturbations of S Hmax in areas of juxtaposed rigid and compliant rheologies. The absence of the collisional Papua New Guinea boundary in the Miocene and reduced ridge push force from the south result in stress directions considerably different from the present. Stress directions over the northern Australian continent in the early Miocene in particular show large disparity with present stress directions. Stress orientations for the Australian plate during the early Eocene are controlled predominantly by ridge push forces arising from spreading in the Wharton Basin in the Indian Ocean and vary substantially with stress directions in the early Miocene and the present because of the drastically different plate geometry and boundary configurations. Fault reactivation histories observed on the northwest shelf of Australia and in the Bass Strait region are consistent with modeled changes in stress directions through time.

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We have generated an elastoviscoplastic (EVP) rheological model of the lithosphere with an extended Maxwell model containing (in series) a linear elastic component, a creep component based on a flow law for dislocation creep in olivine, and a frictional component simulating Drucker-Prager plasticity based on Byerlee's rule. Finite element analyses for topographic loading of this oceanic lithosphere were carried out with two separate final loads (100 and 150 MPa) that were reached by four different load growth times (0, 0.1, 1, 10 Myr). Our results for the stress state and deformation of loaded lithosphere at 41.7 Myr into the model run are compared to results generated by the mechanical response of a time-independent elastic-perfectly plastic (EP) lithosphere, using a moment-curvature relationship based on the constant strain-rate yield strength envelope (YSE) and adopting a strain-rate representative of the EVP solution at 41.7 Myr. With identical flexural loading and material parameters, the deflection profiles of the EVP and EP solutions are quite similar, but it is unclear how the EP strain rate could be selected a priori without guidance from the EVP solution. For example, this uncertainty translates to about a 5 per cent error per decade of strain rate in the temperature gradient obtained by matching maximum moment and curvature in our EP models. The stress distributions of the time-dependent EVP model show deviations from the EP model (as defined by the YSE and an elastic core) in crystal plastic (macroscopically continuous dislocation creep) regions, where we observe vertical, lateral and temporal variations in the strain rate. At times much greater than the load growth time, the stress distribution in the lithosphere is independent of the loading rate and depends on the load magnitude only in that portion of the lithosphere that yields to frictional slip. After loading ceases, residual creep zones develop (in the vicinity of the brittle-plastic transition and the elastic-creep transition), driven by high stress in these regions.

A psychrophilic, Gram-negative bacterium, designated MOL-1 T , was isolated from water of Lake . The major cellular fatty acids were iso-C 15 : 0 , iso-C 17 : 0 3-OH and summed feature 3 (iso-C 15 : 0 2-OH and/or C 16 : 1 v7c). Menaquinone MK-7 is the predominant respiratory quinone, while symhomospermidine is the predominant polyamine. The polar lipid profile is composed of the predominant lipids phosphatidylethanolamine and unidentified polar lipid L2, with moderate amounts of unidentified polar lipids L1, L5 and L6 and unidentified aminophospholipids APL1 and APL2 and minor to trace amounts of unidentified polar lipids L3, L4, L7, L8, L9 and L10, unidentified phospholipid PL4 and unidentified aminophospholipid APL3. After molecular and phenotypic studies, including chemotaxonomic analyses, it was concluded that strain MOL-1 T represents a novel Sphingobacterium species, for which the name Sphingobacterium psychroaquaticum sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is MOL-1 T (5NRRL B-59232 T 5DSM T).

Abstract. We tested the assumption that flexural parameters measured in the present represent the lithosphere's mechanical response at its time of loading. We employed finite element models of cooling and non-cooling versions of one-and two-dimensional temperature distributions in a topographically loaded elastoviscoplastic oceanic lithosphere. Effective elastic thickness (Te) values of the cooling and noncooling versions of a 1-D halfspace temperature field showed a 3% and 7% decrease, respectively, over about 40 Myr and supported the notion that the lithosphere's mechanical state at the time when loading ceased was effectively "frozen in" as it cooled. The second set of models used a high-temperature perturbation beneath the load to simulate a magma conduit, with cooling and non-cooling conduit models exhibiting decreases in Te of 10% and 12%, respectively. As post-loading creep was responsible for the decreases in T,, weaker rheology or higher temperature gradients would exacerbate the effects found here.

Proposal of Vibrionimonas magnilacihabitans gen. nov., sp. nov., a curved Gram-stain-negative bacterium isolated from lake water A mesophilic bacterium appearing as curved rod-shaped cells was isolated from Lake Michigan water. It exhibited highest similarities with Sediminibacterium ginsengisoli DCY13 T (94.4 %); Sediminibacterium salmoneum NJ-44 T (93.6 %) and Hydrotalea flava CCUG 51397 T (93.1 %) while similarities with other recognized species were ,92.0 %. The primary polar lipid was phosphatidylethanolamine, with moderate amounts of two unidentified glycolipids, three unknown polar lipids, one unknown aminophospholipid and one aminolipid. The primary respiratory quinone was MK-7 and sym-homospermidine was the primary polyamine. The major cellular fatty acids were iso-C 15 : 1 G, iso-C 15 : 0 , iso-C 16 : 0 3-OH and iso-C 17 : 0 3-OH, with moderate amounts of iso-C 16 : 0 . The presence of glycolipids differentiated the novel strains from related genera. The DNA mol% G+C content of the type strain MU-2 T was 45.2. Results for other phenotypic and molecular analyses indicated that strain MU-2 T is a representative of a novel genus and species for which the name Vibrionimonas magnilacihabitans is proposed. The type strain is MU-2 T (5NRRL B-592315DSM 22423).