Phylogenetic characterization of a novel salt-tolerant Bacillus species: description of Bacillus dipsosauri sp. nov.

The taxonomic position of a novel halophilic endospore-forming bacterium previously isolated from a desert iguana was investigated by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Comparative sequence analyses showed the unidentified bacterium to be phylogenetically loosely associated with some other spore-forming (Bacillus pantothenticus, Sporosarcina halophila) and non-spore-forming (Marinococcus albus) halotolerant bacteria. Based on the phenotypic and phylogenetic distinctiveness of the unidentified bacterium, it is proposed that it is classified in the genus Bacillus as a new species, Bacillus dipsosauri.