Psychrobacillus lasiicapitis sp. nov., isolated from the head of an ant (Lasius fuliginosus).

A novel Gram-stain-positive, motile, endospore-forming, rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain NEAU-3TGS17, was isolated from the head of an ant (Lasius fuliginosus). The isolate grew at 0-35 °C (optimum 28-30 °C), at pH 6.0-11.0 (optimum pH 7.0-8.0) and with 0-6 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum 0 %). Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain NEAU-3TGS17 belonged to the genus Psychrobacillus. Sequence similarities between strain NEAU-3TGS17 and members of the genus Psychrobacillus with validly published names (Psychrobacillus psychrotolerans DSM 11706, Psychrobacillus insolitus DSM 5, Psychrobacillus psychrodurans DSM 11713 and Psychrobacillus soli NBRC 110600) were 98.4-99.1 %. DNA-DNA relatedness values between strain NEAU-3TGS17 and its closest relatives were below 70 %. The major cellular fatty acids (>5 %) were iso-C14 : 0, anteiso-C15 : 0, C16 : 0 and iso-C15 : 0. The major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine and phosphatidylglycerol. The cell-wall peptidoglycan type was A4β with ornithine as the diamino acid and the predominant menaquinones were MK-8 and some MK-7. The DNA G+C content was 35.8 mol%. On the basis of phenotypic data and phylogenetic inference, strain NEAU-3TGS17 was classified as representing a novel species in the genus Psychrobacillus, for which the name Psychrobacillus lasiicapitis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is NEAU-3TGS17 (=DSM 100484=CGMCC 1.15308).